Sri Lankans in Switzerland refer to Sri Lankans living in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. There are about 46,000 to 55,000 Swiss of Sri Lankan origin and Sri Lankan expatriates living in Switzerland. Most of them are ethnic Tamils.

History

Since the 1990s Switzerland has had a relatively large Tamil population among Europe, almost all of them being

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Many had already been in the country for more than fifteen years due to the Sri Lankan Civil War.Social Change Among Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in Switzerland
. Forschungsportal.ch. Retrieved on 2011-06-12.

LTTE in Switzerland

As well a providing refuge for some Sri Lankans, members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) have been based in Switzerland. The LTTE in Switzerland have been known as the Swiss Tigers.Sri Lanka Perspectives – January 2011
Sri Lanka Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-06-12.Ramifications of crackdown on LTTE in Switzerland , Lanka Magazine
. Lankamagazine.com (2011-01-29). Retrieved on 2011-06-12. The Sri Lankan Tamil community in Switzerland has become LTTE sympathisers who have created a network of money power, man power and muscle power towards the tamil eelam independence movement back in Sri Lanka. Because of this Switzerland has been regarded as the “புலிகள் கோட்டை” (tiger fort) in Europe. Its contribution to the LTTE to the war effort has proportionately exceeded that of Tamils living in other Western countries.

End of the war

With the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War, LTTE networks around the world were being shut down by both Sri Lankan and foreign governments. In 2011 the Swiss police arrested ten former LTTE representatives in the country for threatening, blackmailing and extortion of Tamils of the Sri Lankan diaspora to support the LTTE and the war effort financially. The funds were mainly used to buy weapons in Sri Lanka. Those arrested included the head of the LTTE in Switzerland Vijaratnam Sivanesan alias 'Ragu alias Ragupathy', his predecessor Chelliah Kularajasekeram alias 'Kulam' and the Swiss Tiger finance chief

Chelliah Jeyapalan Chelliah may refer to: *AR Chelliah, Indian religious leader, Bishop of Kanyakumari Diocese * Devasahayam David Chelliah (1894–1979), JP OBE, the first Asian Archdeacon of Singapore * Leaena Chelliah (born 1937), PBM BBM, founded Singapore's firs ...

alias 'Abdullah'. They are facing charges of money laundering and belonging to a criminal organisation.

Demographics

Switzerland is home to around 32,000 to 42,000 Sri Lanka Tamils.

Organizations

Global Sri Lankan Forum Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...

Sri Lankan Diaspora Switzerland Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanes ...

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This website has been taken offline in 2012.Internet Archive WayBack Machine
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Community

The

Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple The Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple is a Hindu temple located in Adliswil in the Sihl Valley in the canton of Zürich, Switzerland. History In the 1990s, an interreligious society was established in the canton of Zürich to support the foundation of ...

is a Hindu temple located in Adliswil in the Sihl Valley in the

canton of Zürich The canton of Zürich (german: Kanton Zürich ; rm, Chantun Turitg; french: Canton de Zurich; it, Canton Zurigo) is a Swiss canton in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton in the ...

and was established in 1994 as a non-profit foundation, as well as the Sri Vishnu Thurkkai Amman Temple, located in the municipality of

Dürnten Dürnten is a municipality in the district of Hinwil in the canton of Zürich in Switzerland. History Dürnten is first mentioned between 743 and 747 as ''Tunriude''. Geography Dürnten has an area of . Of this area, 60.4% is used for agricu ...

in the canton of Zürich in 2010. The Tamil community established some more temples in Switzerland, among them the temple of the Saivanerikoodam association in the

Haus der Religionen The House of Religions - Dialogue of Cultures (German: ''Haus der Religionen - Dialog der Kulturen''; French: ''Maison des religions'') is a Swiss inter-religious institution in the city of Bern in Switzerland that houses worship rooms for ei ...

in Bern in December 2014. Thus being a minority of the Tamil people living in Switzerland, Zentrum für Migrationskirchen (literally: Centre for migration churches) in Zürich-Wipkingen houses among others the ''Oikos'' church that has its origins in Sri Lanka and was founded in 2004.

Notable people

References

External links

Sri Lankan Diaspora Switzerland

Ramifications of crackdown on LTTE in Switzerland
{{Immigration to Switzerland Immigration to Switzerland Sri Lankan diaspora