The UNHRC core group on Sri Lanka confirmed that it will bring a resolution on Sri Lankan reconciliation in the upcoming UNHRC meet which is scheduled to start from 22 February, Daily Mirror reported. 

The group consists of Canada, Germany, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and the United Kingdom. The resolution is a follow up to the one already co-sponsored by the previous Sri Lankan government. The current administration under the leadership of Gotabaya Rajapaksa withdrew Sri Lanka from the co-sponsorship last year. 

Julian Braithwaite, the British ambassador and permanent representative to Geneva, on Monday confirmed the decision to submit the resolution. He said it would be submitted to the Council on Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability, and Human Rights in Sri Lanka. 

Recently, the UNHRC released a damming report on deteriorating human rights conditions in Sri Lanka and expressed concern, saying the steps taken by the Sri Lanka government would effectively damage the gains made on Tamil reconciliation issues. 

In the report, the UNHRC also urged member states to bring a strong-worded resolution on the issue in the upcoming meet, asked to enforce strict monitoring. If the council accepts the recommendations of the report, Sri Lanka might face strong intrusive and somewhat humiliating measures against it. 

Tamil civil society organizations had also written to the UNHRC, seeking strict monitoring of Sri Lankan actions by independent human rights organizations. 

Conversely, Thirty-one civil society members, supporting the Sri Lankan government’s vision,  also wrote a letter to the UNHRC last week, urging it to give Sri Lanka “enough rooms” and the opportunity to solve its internal problems themselves. 

The letter explained, in detail, how the Tamil population had earlier suffered from the terror of the LTTE, and how their lives were later transformed through the development initiatives of the government. But the letter didn't explain the key concern expressed in the UNHRC report.  

“Our appeal is to give us space. Give us a chance to sort out our internal issues. When we can’t and (if) we want help, we will certainly reach out for help. But, we want to be the change we want to see and the world must allow us to do so. We are a sovereign nation - we are Sri Lankans. Allow us to build our nation at our own space and pace,” reads the letter.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has also written to several countries, including India, seeking diplomatic support during the meet. Egyptian President Sisi also extended its support for Sri Lanka.

India has long supported Tamil reconciliation efforts in Sri Lanka and reminded it of its expectations from time to time. “Fulling the expectations of the Tamil people for equality, justice, and peace within a united Sri Lanka will be in its own interest,” said Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar last Thursday.