Hundreds of years ago three kingdoms existed on the island of Sri Lanka: The Kingdom of Colombo in the Western part of the country (Singhalese population), the Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna in the Northern part and the Kingdom of Kandy in the mountains. In the 16th century the Portuguese landed on the island and conquered the coast regions. 1815 the British Empire conquered the Kingdom of Kandy. After breaking down several revolts in Colombo and in the Tamil Kingdom the whole Island became completely British. 1948 the Islands was declared as independent within the British Commonwealth under the name of Ceylon.

The preferential treatment of the Tamil minority in regard to education and profession during the colonial era was perceived as social injustice by the Singhalese majority. The Government aimed to reduce the disproportionate representation of the Tamil minority in the administration, education and economy sectors and to adjust it to the actual demographic situation. This lead to a preferential treatment of the Singhalese language and the Buddhism. Resentment grown among the Tamil population and resistance organizations like the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) were founded.
 
Since 1983 Sri Lanka is experiencing a merciless civil war , in which both parties (Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE) accuse each other of war crime and ethnic cleansing.

Several ceasefires donated short rays of hope but an enduring peace and cohabitation between the Singhalese and Tamil population could not yet been achieved.

The latest ceasefire agreement signed in 2002 (after intervention by Norway) was broken in 2006 and in 2009 the conflict begun to escalate. Again the population is suffering from the gruelling conflict.