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The article discusses the tourist industry in Sri Lanka where, a year after the tsunami, luxury-seeking tourists are rediscovering this lush, gorgeous island. Two years ago, Sri Lanka seemed poised for mass tourism, as vacationers began to arrive from abroad. In 2004, some 30,000 Sri Lankans died in the tsunami and villages were devastated. Neither the tsunami nor violence in norther Sri Lanka, in which suspected Tamil insurgents killed police officers, has halted hotel openings. The author considers whether Sri Lanka can adapt to being an intimate destination, rather than a place for broader tourism. INSET: MARCO POLO, AND NOW YOU.

The article reports on five Sri Lankan men who left their hometown in 2010 to the U.S. after the government crushed a violent insurgency by Tamil separatists. These men still wait for their cases to be resolved who are detained at an immigration jail in Miami, Florida. It notes the findings of studies suggesting the average detention in federal immigration cases for one month. It also mentions the opinion of immigration law experts highlighting that subjective nature of immigration enforcement.

Mentions a training course for Sri Lankans who will be work abroad as housemaids. View that Sri Lanka's government is marketing a second generation of migrant workers who send home remittances; The reasons women take the 12-day course; Indication that some maids are subjected to brutal working conditions in the Middle East; The Katunayake shelter for women abused overseas; The apparent silence about abuse and sexual harassment; The experience of Thangarasa Jeyanthi, Sudarma Manilariatne and others.

Sri Lankans were given the day off Wednesday as the government declared a national holiday to celebrate its victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels. Men leaning out of cars, honking and waving the national flag, could be seen cruising through the capital here. In this city's ethnic Tamil enclaves, however, the mood was more subdued. Many Tamils, long caught between a government that distrusted them and a rebel movement that brooked no Tamil moderates, welcomed the end of the war even as they nursed doubts about the government's promises of unity, reconciliation and equality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fleeing the bitter end of a quarter-century-long war, the refugees turned to a boat. It was first a shelter from artillery shells, then a frail craft to safety. Finally, it became a coffin. The boat was adrift on the Indian Ocean for nine days. Jaya Niranjana's 3-year-old daughter died. M. Yesudas lost his father, sister, nephew, brothers, and uncle -- six in all. An 8-month-old baby, Kuberan, survived only because his mother somehow managed to breast-feed him until just hours before she died. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With their guerrilla fighters pinned down by Sri Lankan troops in a small patch of jungle, ethnic Tamil separatists announced Monday that they were willing to accept an internationally brokered cease-fire, although they said they would not surrender their weapons as part of any truce. The government quickly rejected the offer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Doctors and patients fled a hospital on Wednesday in northern Sri Lanka after days of artillery attacks by government and rebel forces, aid groups said. It was the last medical center in the region, where the rebels and government troops have been fighting. United Nations officials said cluster munitions appeared to have exploded near the hospital, but the government denied having fired them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the United Nations' announcement of ousting 108 Sri Lankan soldiers from its peacekeeping force in Haiti on charges of paid for sex with local women. According to spokeswomen Michèle Montas for Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, both the UN and Srilankan government reiterated their commitment to the zero tolerance policy.

Discusses how Sri Lankan mothers who lost children in the Dec. 26, 2004 tsunamis are finding solace in one another. Claims from the mothers that they did all they could to save their children; Government efforts to counsel the bereaved mothers; Statistics for the number of children killed by the waves; Personal accounts from several mothers.

Reports on the impact of the tsunami on the coastline of Sri Lanka. How Sri Lankans now fear a sea that once sustained them; Scale of the devastation in Sri Lanka, where 70 percent of the coastline was swept by the waves; The psychological strain of being surrounded by, and still dependent on, the sea; Accounts of survivors; Why many remain bewildered by the tsunami, which struck December 26, 2004; Damage from the waves, including the deaths of an estimated 1,200 people on a train; How families are searching for bodies.

Reports on Malaysian authorities' arrest of a Sri Lankan businessman accused of brokering black market nuclear deals.

Reports on the death of several Sri Lankan migrants who tried to illegally enter into Germany via Moscow and Hungary. Concern over increase in undocumented entry into Western Europe; Account of those who managed to survive the ordeal.

Informs about the finding of the bodies of 18 Sri Lankans in a sealed trailer in Budapest, Hungary on July 15, 1995. Speculations on the reasons for their arrival to Hungary.