Study favours Indian citizenship for Sri Lankan refugees in TN

[Skyline]

An academic study undertaken in refugee camps for Sri Lankan Tamils in the State makes a case for granting them Indian citizenship as a human obligation.

Although the State government has been providing them with temporary housing, free medical care, and education up to secondary level, cash doles, subsidised rice, clothing material and utensils, for their survival, employability remains a problem in the absence of social integration and they face an uncertain future without citizenship, says the study carried out by K. Arockiam, Head, Department of Human Resource Management, St. Joseph’s College.

A large number of Tamils had fled Sri Lanka during the prolonged ethnic war that claimed a devastating human toll to seek refuge in India. The refugees who migrated from the north and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka were agriculturists and fishermen. In Tamil Nadu, the employment availability was limited. They had to work as daily workers and take up income-generation activities warranting rigorous physical work. The living conditions of the 50,703 Sri Lankan Tamils belonging to over 13,000 families, living as refugees in 103 camps (as per data provided by Tamil Nadu Rehabilitation Department), make them vulnerable to ailments, Prof. Arockiam said.

Only the Kottapattu transit camp in Tiruchi district and the camp at Gummudipoondi in Tiruvallur district fulfil some of the U.N. standards. In the other camps, including the ones at Mettupatti, Bavanisagar, Lenavilakku, Chinnapallikupam, Narananammlpuram, and Sevalur, one toilet is used by 150 to 200 people on an average. They were afflicted with social and psychological problems, and their cultural lives have taken a backseat. Child marriage, suicides, and dropouts were new phenomena confronting them, the study that Prof. Arockiam undertook with support from JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) and OfERR (Organisation for Eelam Refugee Rehabilitation) says.

Unlike in Canada, European countries, and Australia, India was reluctant to integrate the refugees into society. These refugees were unable to even decide whether or not to go back to Sri Lanka, according to the study advocating citizenship rights for the refugees. – The Hindu

Study favours Indian citizenship for Sri Lankan refugees in TN

 

[navtrek]

They should be given a citizenship and the TN government should consider providing them with vocational training so that they can earn a lively hood.

 

[bronxbull]

Naah,until separatism is alive,no citizenship.

Maybe some kinda stop gap work permit kinda arrangement to study and work and maybe even a passport kinda thing.

 

[CZAR]

I am a little curious. What are the arguments against providing refugees with Indian citizenship?

 

[Android]

I am a little curious. What are the arguments against providing refugees with Indian citizenship?

millions of Indians themself are living in extreme poverty and harsh conditions

 

[Gibbs]

'Over 1,600 refugees left for Lanka since Jan 2012'

By U Tejonmayam | ENS - CHENNAI

20th June 2013 08:09 AM



With monetary aid from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 1,600 Sri Lankan Tamils living in Tamil Nadu as refugees have returned to their country so far since January 2012.

Officials of the UNHCR, who have their field office in the city, said that about 1,264 Sri Lankan Tamils, who were living in special camps across the State, had returned through voluntary repatriation to their country between January and December 2012. This year, about 350 refugees have returned so far. In Chennai there are two open refugees’ camps – in Gummidipoondi and Puzhal.

About 1,670 refugees returned to their country in 2011 which was comparatively lesser than 2,040 persons in 2010 after the end of war in 2009.

Officials in the UN refugee agency said that many factors including medical and education facilities were found to be reasons behind the declining number of Sri Lankan nationals return to their native country. “Some of them postpone their applications saying that they don’t want to discontinue medical treatments and education here. But so far nobody had complained to us about ‘safety’ as reason for not returning to their country,” an official said.

The UNHCR also conducts checks for the safety of the refugee back in his country. “Once a person expresses his willingness to return and applies to us, we check if the place they want to settle is safe. We also do random monitoring of these people after they return. But if they face any trouble upon their return, they get back to us,” an official explained.

There are over 60,000 refugees from the island nation living in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu which constitutes about 36 per cent of total number of refugees in the country.

'Over 1,600 refugees left for Lanka since Jan 2012' - The New Indian Express

 

[HeinzG]

India should take all the Tamils in Sri Lanka who wants to live in a separate eelam. Then this prevailing issue of Tamils will be over. Win Win for both India and Sri Lanka.