MIA has found herself in the sights of the Sri Lankan army after backing a campaign to send food and medical supplies to the island nation.
The British singer, who grew up in Sri Lanka, has given her support to the Vanni Mission, which aims to send a boat of civilian aid from Britain to Sri Lanka. The cargo is destined for Tamil civilians within a government "safe zone".
However, Sri Lankan military leaders have rejected the "mercy mission", citing reports that the boat will carry supplies for Tamil fighters. The country's navy has announced that it will open fire on any ship that enters their waters without authorisation. MIA was also singled out on the army's official website, after the singer announced her support for the campaign.
Though MIA did not appear at the 31 March launch of the Vanni Mission, she sent a statement of support via Manjula Guganesan, "a member of her extended family".
"I just had a baby last month, that's why I can't be there today, but I want to give my support and thanks to the launch of the chartered humanitarian ship Mercy Mission," she wrote. "I made it out in the late 80s and so my baby is going to grow up with hospitals, healthcare, food, free education, freedom of speech and religion, a life expectancy of 80-90 years and many of the liberties that we in the democratic world take for granted."
"A baby born in the Vanni region today is getting no access to hospitals (they bombed the last one and it's run out of supplies). There is limited food because the government banned the aid agencies and there is no education because the trapped civilians only have one option and that is to make it to the government-run internment camps where they only enforce the language and ideas of the government. The Tamils have fewer rights than the animals in Sri Lanka."
"The Mercy Mission will carry dry food and medicines for Tamil civilians ... Many have already perished from starvation and preventable disease. We can not ignore these genocidal conditions, and if the aim of the Sri Lanka government is to protect the lives of the civilians, then this ship will reach its destination and lives will be saved."
Earlier this spring, Sri Lanka's foreign secretary, Dr Palitha Kohona, criticised MIA for her continued activism, saying she should "stay with what she's good at, which is music, not politics".
Sri Lanka has spent decades in a civil war between government and separatist Tamil forces. Despite a few years of ceasefire, the fighting has intensified since January 2008.
