‘In my dreams I see my son’: Sri Lanka mourns its missing – in pictures

Marco Valle-Thu 22 Nov 2018

Nine years after Sri Lanka’s civil war ended, the spectre of the disappeared still haunts the country. Between 1983 and 2009, more than 65,000 people went missing. Marco Valle’s images reflect the hope and powerlessness of the Tamil families of the missing

Thu 22 Nov 2018 07.00 GMT

Ten years ago, Manuel Udachandra’s son was taken away to be interrogated by the Sinhalese army. She has never seen him since, and has never stopped looking for him. She stood as a candidate in local elections earlier this year, because she wanted to be a voice for the families of the disappeared

Two people walk on the railway that connects Colombo with the Badulla district. The current population in Sri Lanka is divided into Sinhalese (74%), Tamil (18%, of which 6% are of Indian origin), Arabs (7%) and Veddah (1%)

People living in this shantytown in Kilinochchi have been staging a protest against the government for the past 349 days. The demonstrators are calling for the release of children on the missing list, permission to enter secret detention camps, the release of political prisoners, and the partial demilitarisation of northern areas. On the 365th day of their protest, they will start a hunger strike

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