The news published in the independent Tamil media confirms disturbing development in the LTTE activities.

The European Union proscribed the LTTE in May 2006. The proscription has impacted on the LTTE considerably. Since the proscription, LTTE had made amends to its activities and is taking avenues through passive sources to carry on with its activities.

Transformation is taking place across the board. Any such transformation for the betterment of Tamils could be welcome news but unfortunately they are done to circumvent the obstacles LTTE is facing in the EU.

The LTTE has overcome the travel ban by using its Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian in the Sri Lanka parliament to make sudden and secret visits to EU counties. These visits are very suspicious and TNA members seldom venture out independently. They limit their activities to the LTTE agenda and are cared by the LTTE activists when they visit the EU counties. These parliamentarians use their special privileges as parliamentarians to campaign for the LTTE.

The activities of the TNA members are extending further by facilitating film actors and musician from South Indian state of Tamil Nadu to conduct fund raising programmes for the LTTE in the European counties. The recent effort of two TNA parliamentarians to reach an agreement with the Tamil Nadu film industry and news report that leading Tamil film stars are planning to participate in a fundraising programme in the UK in April this year is worrying development.

An analysis of number of visits by some of the TNA members to the European countries raises serious concerns as to who funds their trips to t travel abroad. During their visits they limit their exposure with the LTTE activists and sympathisers.

Approaches made to the TNA parliamentarians for discussions and participation in public meetings by those who do not support the LTTE cause never materialised. On one occasion request for a private meeting with a parliamentarian failed when a LTTE activist made threats against the person attempted to arrange the meeting.

The other serious aspect of course is the LTTE’s fund transfer activities. LTTE seem to have moved away from their traditional methods of transferring funds through their appointed activists. Instead, funds are now being transferred through LTTE invested businesses and the businesses that are sympathetic to the LTTE. Tamil money transfer agencies play vital role to transfer money using clandestine methods.

Recent arrests of LTTE activists in Holland, Indonasia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand confirm extent of defrauded credit card funds filtering in to the LTTE finance.

Despite the EU wide ban, LTTE is continuing with its fund raising activities. In some counties these are done in a subtle way.

The LTTE activists are set upon a campaign of harassment that does not fall in line with LTTE’s dictates. Having been unsuccessful in their efforts they set upon a campaign which is unparallel in the pre-LTTE Tamilian history. The LTTE made several determined efforts to close down the only anti-LTTE Tamil Broadcasting Corporation in London violently. Having failed in their efforts they took the illegal route to forge the signatures on statutory documents to wind up the radio station.

In addition, European-wide campaign of intimidation using pro LTTE clandestine websites is a method that the LTTE activists are adopting to sustain their hold on the Diaspora community.

The LTTE had made infiltration into many independent Tamil organisations in the EU. Significant of these is their infiltration into the independent Deepam satellite television station. Their involvement has made the station departing from its independent stand and become a propaganda arm of the LTTE.

Whilst suppressing the independent Tamil media,LTTE is also able to continue with its own unlicensed and unregulated broadcasting media Tamil Television Network (TTN) and International Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) uninterrupted. Lack of effort to trace the clandestine nature of operation of these broadcasting stations is giving the needed succour for the LTTE to continue with its dictates in the Tamil Diaspora.