Sri Lanka overwhelmingly voted Gotabaya Rajapaksa to be their new president earlier this month, and he was sworn into office November 18. This is a terrifying specter for the ethnic minority Tamils and Muslims on the island.

Tamil families of the disappeared, some of whom last saw their loved ones in one of Gotabaya’s infamous “white vans,” recently marked their one-thousandth day of protest. In Sri Lanka, there are at least 60,000 to 100,000 unresolved cases of enforced disappearances — most of which were perpetrated by the state against Tamils during the final phase of the armed conflict between the state and Tamils.

Frustrated by government inaction, beginning in 2016, Tamil mothers led roadside protests demanding answers about their loved ones. The protests call for the names of surrendees and detainees taken by government security forces; a list of all secret detention centers and detainees held there; and the names of all detainees held under the Prevention of Terrorism Act in secret detention centers. At least fifty-three family members have died seeking the truth about their loved ones and, to this day, not a single case of enforced disappearances has been prosecuted.