Canadian High Commissioner hopes to visit Chemmani one day

24-Aug-2026

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“We stopped our vehicle there only because we had not previously had an opportunity to visit the Chemmani mass grave site. I hope that one day I will be able to visit the site,” Canadian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Isabelle Martin said.

She made these remarks while speaking to the media following an event held in Jaffna, in connection with an incident in which a Canadian delegation visited the Chemmani area and returned after the Government did not grant permission to visit the Chemmani mass grave site.

Speaking further, she said:

“I was travelling to Jaffna by vehicle. The journey had been very clearly planned. Since I had never visited the Chemmani area before, we decided that we could stop there. I was also aware that the site would be closed after this season. Therefore, we stopped briefly simply to see what was there.

“We knew that we had not received permission to visit the site. However, we stopped there only because we had never previously had an opportunity to visit the place. I hope that one day I will be able to visit it, but that was not possible this time.

“We had come to Jaffna this week as part of our visit. It was important for me to see the site. We met some of the people there and obtained some information from them. We then left,” she said.