Uma Kumaran, now a junior minister at the UK's Foreign Office, previously urged the government to support international expertise in investigating alleged mass graves in Sri Lanka and to demand justice for 17 aid workers killed at Muttur in 2006.
Labour MP Uma Kumaran questioned the then Foreign Secretary during a parliamentary committee session about British involvement in protecting and investigating mass grave sites in Sri Lanka, particularly focusing on the excavation of an alleged mass grave at Chemmani in Jaffna. According to Tamil Guardian reporting, Kumaran noted that over 400 sets of remains had been recovered from the site, including those of children and infants, and highlighted calls from Tamil civil society organisations for international monitoring of the excavations.
Kumaran advocated for the UK to collaborate with Bournemouth University, which developed the Bournemouth Protocol on Mass Grave Protection and Investigation in partnership with the International Commission on Missing Persons. She stressed that the protocol emphasises the importance of maintaining evidence chains for future accountability and enabling DNA identification with affected families. The then Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper responded that she would examine the University's work, though she acknowledged being unfamiliar with its specifics at the time.
The MP also raised the 2006 killing of 17 Action Against Hunger staff members at their office in Muttur, describing it as having compelling evidence pointing to likely responsibility by Sri Lankan security forces. She noted that international bodies including the UN Human Rights Commissioner had concluded that authorities attempted to conceal the massacre. Cooper stated she would verify whether the case had been discussed with the Sri Lankan government, though she committed to follow-up.
Kumaran was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office shortly after this exchange, becoming the first British Tamil minister. The Muttur incident remained unresolved as of August 2026, marking two decades without convictions, while the Chemmani site has since yielded 491 identified remains awaiting identification.
