![Eranga Jayawardena An ethnic Tamil war survivor sits by a photograph of his deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony held on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/df27331a90fe4aa0a410f9f23e2e7b12/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
An ethnic Tamil war survivor sits by a photograph of his deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony held on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Eranga Jayawardena Rasalingam Thilakawathi shows a picture of her missing daughter at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Thilakawathi, holding an old newspaper clipping, which carries a picture of her then 19-year-old daughter sitting inside a bus, says her daughter was recruited by the Tamil Tigers three years before she went missing. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/2d5bbeb7381e41cc9f01b6ff1ee5f4d3/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Rasalingam Thilakawathi shows a picture of her missing daughter at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Thilakawathi, holding an old newspaper clipping, which carries a picture of her then 19-year-old daughter sitting inside a bus, says her daughter was recruited by the Tamil Tigers three years before she went missing. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Nat Castaneda Members of the Tamil diaspora from across Europe gather to remember Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, at memorial service at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/9d1d0d32441341aba195f584f7cbd81a/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Members of the Tamil diaspora from across Europe gather to remember Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, at memorial service at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)
![Eranga Jayawardena A Sri Lankan Tamil war survivor is consoled by another as she cries for her deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/3bc7da08d5834bdd9c62b718ac82d3ff/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
A Sri Lankan Tamil war survivor is consoled by another as she cries for her deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Dexter Cruez FILE- Sri Lankan troops detain Tamils to screen them for possible connections with militants at Nelliaddy village in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka, June 2, 1987. (AP Photo/Dexter Cruez, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/84146d91f5f043c587d11d5bd78a8f0f/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE- Sri Lankan troops detain Tamils to screen them for possible connections with militants at Nelliaddy village in the northern Jaffna Peninsula, Sri Lanka, June 2, 1987. (AP Photo/Dexter Cruez, File)
![Eranga Jayawardena Tamil survivors of the civil war drive a mobile monument paying tribute to the war victims in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Sri Lanka, Monday, May 6, 2023. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/85d69eb8cb2d4117a1f8c86e0383b8a3/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Tamil survivors of the civil war drive a mobile monument paying tribute to the war victims in Puthukkudiyiruppu, Sri Lanka, Monday, May 6, 2023. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Liu Heung Shing FILE- Three Tamil teenagers pose with their weapons a week before going for training in a camp in southern India, Nov. 10, 1986. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing, File)wld](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/05e6a021f63f48399f7cc73adbe44fa8/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE- Three Tamil teenagers pose with their weapons a week before going for training in a camp in southern India, Nov. 10, 1986. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing, File)wld
![Eranga Jayawardena Soosai Victoria, shows photographs of her missing son at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. "I am praying for him to return, I believe that he is there," said Victoria, who refused to accept a death certificate for her son without information on what actually happened to him. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/643ac71ff2d24724a736dfbcafded7ce/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Soosai Victoria, shows photographs of her missing son at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. "I am praying for him to return, I believe that he is there," said Victoria, who refused to accept a death certificate for her son without information on what actually happened to him. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Nat Castaneda The Danish family of Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, are shown at a memorial service in his honor at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. From left center are, Karthic Manoharan, nephew of Prabhakaran, and Velupillai Manoharan, brother of Prabhakaran. Members of the Tamil diaspora came from all across Europe to remember Prabhakaran. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/24076105ace54f2d8710fe1aad55d9a9/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
The Danish family of Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, are shown at a memorial service in his honor at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. From left center are, Karthic Manoharan, nephew of Prabhakaran, and Velupillai Manoharan, brother of Prabhakaran. Members of the Tamil diaspora came from all across Europe to remember Prabhakaran. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)
![Dexter Cruez FILE- Young Tamil Tigers pose for a photograph in the jungles of the eastern Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka, June 22, 1990. (AP Photo/Dexter Cruez, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/a266ebb25fea45a9bceb4c5cd416e6a5/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE- Young Tamil Tigers pose for a photograph in the jungles of the eastern Batticaloa district, Sri Lanka, June 22, 1990. (AP Photo/Dexter Cruez, File)
![Eranga Jayawardena Rasalingam Thilakawathi cries for her missing daughter at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Thilakawathi, who lives in Moongilaaru village of Mullaitivu district, the theatre of the final battles in the civil war, says her daughter was recruited by the Tamil Tigers three years before she went missing. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/3bb1b2b1a54949feb035fb8ce7cc5d7f/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Rasalingam Thilakawathi cries for her missing daughter at her home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Thilakawathi, who lives in Moongilaaru village of Mullaitivu district, the theatre of the final battles in the civil war, says her daughter was recruited by the Tamil Tigers three years before she went missing. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Eranga Jayawardena Sri Lankan Tamil war survivors perform rituals for their deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/ee67582244b44a8caa6c523751c33b70/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Sri Lankan Tamil war survivors perform rituals for their deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Eranga Jayawardena A portrait of Parasuraman Thulasiyamma's missing son is displayed with the pictures of Hindu deities inside their home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/a1beaa25922b470987a752d3f4369048/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
A portrait of Parasuraman Thulasiyamma's missing son is displayed with the pictures of Hindu deities inside their home in Mullaitivu, Sri Lanka, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago but many people are still searching for children or other family members who are missing, some presumed dead. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Eranga Jayawardena Subramaniam Paramanandam, a farmer, talks to Associated Press, in Thunukkai, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Paramanandam recounts how he and a dozen others pleaded with clasped hands with U.N. officials and other international humanitarian groups not to leave Sri Lanka's northern battle zone. For more than 15 years, Paramanandam and many like him still search for justice for alleged war crimes and again look to the U.N. for a speedy solution. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/483f965c86464b26b1ffa26c19cd8534/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Subramaniam Paramanandam, a farmer, talks to Associated Press, in Thunukkai, Sri Lanka, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Paramanandam recounts how he and a dozen others pleaded with clasped hands with U.N. officials and other international humanitarian groups not to leave Sri Lanka's northern battle zone. For more than 15 years, Paramanandam and many like him still search for justice for alleged war crimes and again look to the U.N. for a speedy solution. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Eileen Alt Powell FILE- An army soldier sits on top of an armored vehicle as Sri Lankan troops patrol the town recaptured from the Tamil Tiger separatists in Valvettithurai, Sri Lanka, June 5, 1987. (AP Photo/Eileen Alt Powell, File)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/8d49eba59b164f1aaea2c58783379c07/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
FILE- An army soldier sits on top of an armored vehicle as Sri Lankan troops patrol the town recaptured from the Tamil Tiger separatists in Valvettithurai, Sri Lanka, June 5, 1987. (AP Photo/Eileen Alt Powell, File)
![Eranga Jayawardena An ethnic Tamil war survivor is consoled by others as she cries for her deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/e985ddb4d2fd424f8172abee9397dd18/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
An ethnic Tamil war survivor is consoled by others as she cries for her deceased family members during a remembrance ceremony on a small strip of land where thousands of civilians were trapped during the last stages of the country's civil war in Mullivaikkal, Sri Lanka, Saturday, May 17, 2024. Ethnic Tamils commemorated the 15th anniversary of the bloody end to Sri Lanka's civil war, lighting lamps and offering flowers at the site where thousands of people are said to have been killed and maimed in the final stages of the fighting. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
![Nat Castaneda Members of the Tamil diaspora from across Europe gather to remember Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, at memorial service at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)](https://mapi.associatedpress.com/v2/items/77ed20ec4b194778a9a8ad203b4d1343/preview/preview.jpg?s=680x)
Members of the Tamil diaspora from across Europe gather to remember Velupillai Prabhakaran, Founder of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, at memorial service at the DGI Huset conference center, Saturday, May 18, 2023, in Vejle, Denmark. Sri Lanka's civil war, which pitted Sri Lankan government forces against Tamil Tiger separatists, ended 15 years ago. (AP Photo/Nat Castaneda)