Tamil Canadians remember Black July anti-Tamil pogrom every year.
The riots began as a response to a deadly ambush on 23 July 1983 by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Beginning in the capital Colombo on the night of 24 July 1983, the riots spread to other parts of the country.
Over seven days mobs of mainly Sinhalese attacked Tamil targets, burning, looting and killing. Estimates of the death toll is more than 3,000. More than 8,000 homes and 5,000 shops were destroyed.
More than 150,000 Tamils were made homeless. The economic cost of the riots was $300 million.
