The Sri Lankan government has taken a big decision for the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in India for the last several years. Refugees who came to India without valid travel documents can now return to Sri Lanka of their own free will after necessary identity, security and legal checking. The Sri Lankan Cabinet has approved this special system and 'India Today' has reported about this.
The main objective of this decision is to remove legal and administrative hurdles for those refugees who want to return to Sri Lanka from India. This system will especially benefit those citizens who were not able to leave Sri Lanka through valid passport or official means during the civil war. This process will be implemented for returnees through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
After communal violence broke out in Sri Lanka in 1983, a large number of Tamil citizens took refuge in India. Subsequently, a civil war lasted for nearly three decades between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). This war ended in May 2009. According to available data, about 18,000 Sri Lankan refugees have returned home between 2002 and 2022. However, it is estimated that around 90,000 Sri Lankan refugees still live in Tamil Nadu. Many of them have been living in India for decades. The special thing is that the data of the Sri Lankan government also shows that about 40 percent of these people were born in India.
What are the arrangements for people without documents?
According to the new system, the identity of citizens who left Sri Lanka without a passport or using official channels before August 1, 2006 will be verified by the Sri Lankan Diplomatic Mission in India. After that, security checks will be done by the State Intelligence Service (SIS). It will also be verified whether the person concerned is accused of murder, treason or serious crimes under Sri Lankan law. Those who pass the security check will be allowed to enter Sri Lanka from authorized airports or seaports on temporary passports. They will not be prosecuted under immigration law for leaving the country illegally.
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