Tamils block Parliament Square
Tamil protestors outside parliament have moved into the road, blocking traffic in Parliament Square for the third time in five weeks.
A police officer on the scene told politics.co.uk the protestors broke through barriers at around 10:30 BST and established themselves at the junction of Bridge Street and Parliament Street.
An hour later around 100 police had arrived to divert traffic and a cordon was set up to prevent further protestors reinforcing their numbers.
The Metropolitan police have permitted 50 protestors to remain in place on Parliament Square for over a month, during which time protestors have repeatedly responded to events in Sri Lanka by heightening their demonstration.
On April 7th Tamils caused disruption as they blocked Westminster Bridge. Two protestors jumped into the water but were rescued and taken to hospital.
Two weeks later, on April 20th, Tamil protestors around Westminster again broke through police lines.
The latest disruption was in response to news that over 100 children have died over the weekend in northern Sri Lanka, where the separatist rebel Tamil Tigers are fighting a last stand against government forces.
Yesterday a United Nations spokesman described the situation in Sri Lanka as a “bloodbath”.
The UN had consistently warned it has been predicting a “bloodbath-type scenario” would ensue if the government continued its offensives against Tiger positions. Over 400 civilians are believed to have died over the weekend.
Over 70,000 people have been killed in the Sri Lankan conflict, which began when the Tamil Tigers commenced their campaign for an independent state in 1983.
