2 months ago
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Sri Lanka is acceptable to person and enactment each those forced to fly the state during the civilian warfare and present surviving arsenic refugees successful Tamil Nadu, Cabinet Minister and Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake told The Hindu, urging the Governments of India and Tamil Nadu to refrain from utilizing refugees arsenic “a instrumentality for governmental propaganda”.
The Minister made the remarks erstwhile queried astir the government’s existent presumption connected refugee-returnees from Tamil Nadu, successful the aftermath of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin’s missive — dated February 15, 2026 — to Prime Minister Modi seeking the Union government’s involution connected issues concerning Sri Lankan Tamils surviving successful India for implicit 4 decades. Apart from requesting New Delhi to rescind administrative instructions barring information of citizenship applications from Sri Lankan Tamils, Mr. Stalin sought an enforcement clarification waiving passport and visa requirements, wherever appropriate, for citizenship oregon semipermanent visa applications based connected verified individuality documentation issued by the Tamil Nadu government. According to Mr. Stalin’s letter, astir 89,000 individuals reside successful and extracurricular camps crossed Tamil Nadu. Nearly 40% of them were calved there.
Pointing retired that 18,542 persons returned from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka successful the 16-year play from January 2009 — the civilian warfare ended successful May that twelvemonth — to June 2025, Minister Rathnayake said: “We are surely acceptable to invited those who privation to return. However, if immoderate of them, calved successful India, oregon who person lived, studied, and worked determination for decades, oregon joined an Indian, determine to question Indian citizenship, we cannot reason with that position. It is their world and their close to question citizenship there.” Further, successful a connection to governmental actors successful India, helium said: “My humble petition to the Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu is that delight don’t usage the refugees arsenic a instrumentality for governmental propaganda astir elections. They person endured tremendous suffering already; we indispensable dainty their petition with attraction and sensitivity.”
A salient dependable successful the ruling Anura Kumara Dissanayake administration, Mr. Rathnayake, who is simply a polit bureau subordinate of the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) oregon People’s Liberation Front, had visited exile camps successful Tamil Nadu successful 2007, and pushed the Sri Lankan authorities to walk a instrumentality granting citizenship to 28,500 persons surviving successful the camps. In May 2025, erstwhile erstwhile Jaffna MP and elder lawyer M.A. Sumanthiran highlighted the apprehension of a 75-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil refugee returning from India, connected charges of leaving the land without a valid passport, Mr. Rathnayake said the authorities would code the matter. “The authorities instantly instructed the Immigration Department and constabulary not to detain those returning, citing their departure from a alleged amerciable larboard decades ago,” helium said.
Mr. Stalin’s missive to PM Modi drew wide attraction successful Sri Lankan media and among politicians. Mano Ganesan, Opposition MP and person of the Tamil Progressive Alliance — representing the Malaiyaha Tamils — called for a “permanent, humane solution”. “Sri Lankan refugees surviving wrong and extracurricular settlements successful India request clarity, not decades of uncertainty. Give them a dignified choice… a procreation born, educated and integrated successful India deserves justice. Others merit state of choice,” helium said successful a societal media post.
Also read: Sri Lankan refugees | The agelong hold for Indian citizenship
Last week, speaking successful New Delhi astatine a screening of Frontline writer R.K. Radhakrishnan’s documentary connected refugees, Mr. Sumanthiran, wide caput of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK), said that portion the diminishing fig of Tamils successful Sri Lanka whitethorn not favour the Tamil polity trying to fortify its constituency, “this is an exceptional situation.” Those who privation to stay successful India indispensable person the option, helium said, adding that “in planetary law, cipher should beryllium a stateless person.” He besides urged the Sri Lankan authorities to guarantee the creaseless instrumentality of those who privation to travel back, wherever determination is nary fearfulness of arrest.
Authorities said a full of 246 persons from 46 families returned from India to Sri Lanka betwixt July 2025 and February 2026, with nary arrests reported during the time. S. Sooriyakumari, president of OfERR (Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation) Ceylon, a non-profit organisation moving with Sri Lankan exile communities, said the Sri Lankan authorities indispensable wide administrative hurdles, facilitate casual paperwork, and guarantee creaseless reintegration of those returning. “It is precise important that the governments of India and Sri Lanka sermon this substance and make a structured programme to look into the aboriginal of the refugees; it indispensable not stay ambiguous,” she said. The UN Refugee agency, which stepped back pursuing arrests of immoderate returnees past year, has present agreed to facilitate their return, sources acquainted with the process said.
Meanwhile, immoderate similar Antan Roshanthiny — calved successful a exile campy successful Tamil Nadu — are blessed to beryllium back. “My parents fled during the warfare and were refugees successful Tamil Nadu. I was calved there. After the war, my household returned successful phases. I came backmost successful 2014,” she said. Ms. Roshanthiny’s aboriginal years successful the bluish Kilinochchi territory were not easy. Her household had to rebuild a home, benignant retired onshore contestations, navigate delays successful paperwork, and header with unkind section reactions to a antithetic Tamil accent. “Over time, things got amended and I started feeling much astatine home. Seeing administrative faults and wide corruption astir me, I decided to enactment connected people’s issues,” said the 29-year-old, present a full-time governmental activistic with the ruling National People’s Power coalition.
