In January 2008, the Forum called for a boycott of Sri Lankan Airlines as well as other trade and travel sanctions, in protest at the Government of Sri Lanka's withdrawal from a ceasefire with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, after both sides had violated the agreement numerous times after LTTE instigation. Ivan Pedropillai of the forum stated that "£12m in foreign currency earned annually by the airline was being used to reinforce the government's war chest." The Forum organised a meeting chaired by MP Keith Vaz who compared the Tamil plight to the Rwandan genocide, Darfur killings and Bosnian ethnic cleansing. BTF spokesman Suren Surendiran surmised that the international community had continually pursued a double standard in its approach to conflict resolution in Sri Lanka compared to in states such as Zimbabwe, stating that the Sri Lankan government was "abusing the Tamils' fundamental human rights and killing innocent Tamil civilians with the aid and assistance from the international community."