Labour List MP based in the Ohariu electorate Charles Chauvel was a guest of the Wellington Tamil community as they commemorated the first anniversary of the Mullivaikal Tragedy.

Mullivaikal Hospital, located in northern Sri Lanka within a dedicated “safe zone” demarcated during the bloody civil war between the Government and Tamils. On the 12th of May 2009, the hospital was attacked by mortar fire, killing at least 49 and injuring over 50.

Chauvel was Chief Guest at the remembrance ceremony. The ceremony included the lighting of 400 candles, each candle representing every 100 people killed last year, as well as the planting of Pohutukawa plantings in memory of the innocent civilians killed.

Click here to read a copy of Charles' speech.