Current Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Dr Palitha Kohana is a former DFAT high ranking Officer. 

Hunger Strikers claimed they had decided to break the hunger strike as the DFAT representative met minutes earlier by a delegation from the group had been receptive to their calls and had assured them the Australian
government would do what it could to pressure Sri Lanka.

“We have been given assurances,” said Geetha Mano, a member of the delegation. “We will wait and see if they will keep these promises,” she added.

Concerns from the Australian Tamil community, which had escalated after a second hunger striker had to be admitted to hospital had also influenced their decision, said the group. “People started crying and
saying they had already lost thousands of Tamils and could not bear to lose another in front of their eyes,” said Sutha Thanabalasingham, who had been rushed to hospital via ambulance on Wednesday night.

The hunger striker and the participants of the rally were calling on the Australian government to use its diplomatic powers to push the Sri Lankan government on four demands :

1. to enter an immediate and permanent ceasefire with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam;

2. to immediately allow food, medicine and aid into the conflict zone;

3. to allow vital services, including medical services into the conflict zone;

4. allow the Tamil people, both in the conflict zone and those indefinitely detained in concentration camps in government-held areas, to decide independently where they wish to reside.

Sources from the conflict zone have confirmed heavy military offensives by the Sri Lankan military in the so-called ‘no-fire safe zone’ with over 300,000 Tamil civilians coming under continuous artillery fire.

It is believed that after the recent attack  on peacuful tamil rallies by Sri Lankan Government backed Sinhala Mobs in Melbourne, Australian Federal Police has provided a fully protective escort to the march.