UNHCR officials at Mandapam camp
5 years, 3 months ago

UNHCR officials at Mandapam camp

Deccan Chronicle  

RAMESWARAM: At least two officials of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees visited the Mandapam camp near here, which houses the largest number Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, on Monday as part of an on-going process to help them return to northern Sri Lanka. The Mandapam camp as on date houses nearly 1,600 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees belonging to 493 families, many of whom were uprooted and terrified by the violence fled to Tamil Nadu for safety and protection at the height of the ethnic riots in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s' and in the following years. However, in recent months with increasing perception among the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees that normalcy was being restored in the Tamil-speaking regions in Sri Lanka and normal life conditions slowly returning there, more and more refugees have been expressing a desire to go back to their native places there. The UNHCR has been volunteering free service to such refugees volunteering to return home and as part of that process two officials from UNHRC visited the Mandapam camp today and met the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who have applied for going back home.

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History of this topic

9 Sri Lankan refugees who fled Tamil Nadu camp caught near maritime border
2 months ago

9 Sri Lankan refugees who fled Tamil Nadu camp caught near maritime border

India Today  

Nine Sri Lankan refugees who had escaped from the Mandapam refugee camp in Tamil Nadu were caught near Neduntheevu Island by the Sri Lankan Navy on Saturday evening, officials said. Three refugees, identified as Niroshan, Sudha, Gnanajothi, along with three children and three other women from Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee, Mannar, and Mullaitivu, had initially arrived at India's Dhanushkodi coast by …

Refugees from Sri Lanka not enthusiastic about presidential poll
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Refugees from Sri Lanka not enthusiastic about presidential poll

The Hindu  

With a day to go for the Sri Lanka presidential poll, the situation does not seem to have generated any buzz among Tamil refugees living in different camps across the State. Jothi*, a resident of a Pudukottai camp and a mother of two children, says there has been a sense of longing among her fellow refugees whether there will be …

End the uncertainty: The Hindu Editorial on the Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu
1 year ago

End the uncertainty: The Hindu Editorial on the Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu

The Hindu  

The Madras High Court has demonstrated how the judiciary can provide succour to a person waiting for over 40 years to get Indian citizenship. In T. Ganesan vs The Government of India & Others, the Madurai Bench of the High Court, in its judgment on November 30, directed the authorities to treat the petitioner and his family as Indian citizens, …

‘Economic migrants’ struggle to find their feet in State
1 year, 6 months ago

‘Economic migrants’ struggle to find their feet in State

The Hindu  

The fate of over 250 “economic migrants,” most of whom came to Tamil Nadu in the last 12 to 15 months after the economic crisis erupted in Sri Lanka, remains in limbo. Last year, the State government released nearly ₹50 lakh towards meeting the expenditure. A perceptive feature of the “economic migrants” is their familiarity with Tamil Nadu. Informally, many …

10 Sri Lankan Tamils arrived to India seeking refuge
1 year, 8 months ago

10 Sri Lankan Tamils arrived to India seeking refuge

New Indian Express  

RAMANATHAPURAM: A total of 10 Sri Lankan Tamils, including four children and four women, were rescued from the first sand bar near Dhanushkodi on Saturday. The police found that they were from Mullaitivu region in Sri Lanka and had arrived in India hoping to get a better life. Speaking to TNIE, Jacintha Lazarus, Commissioner of Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non …

Family of five from Sri Lanka reaches Dhanushkodi; 214 persons have arrived so far
2 years, 1 month ago

Family of five from Sri Lanka reaches Dhanushkodi; 214 persons have arrived so far

The Hindu  

Five people belonging to a family from Killinochi district, Sri Lanka, reached the Indian waters at Dhanuskodi first islet at around 5 a.m. on Thursday. Apart from them, an aged woman, from Sri Lanka had died in a hospital at Madurai due to age related ailment. Investigations revealed that S. Ganeshamoorthy of Killinochi district was working as a casual worker …

Being a refugee in Sri Lanka amid a biting economic downturn
2 years, 3 months ago

Being a refugee in Sri Lanka amid a biting economic downturn

The Hindu  

The two large beds, with no gap in between, occupy almost the entire area of the room, barely 12 X 8 feet. “This long wait has been agonising for us,” said Riffat Fareedun, 39, a refugee from Karachi living in Sri Lanka’s coastal city of Negombo, about 40 km north of Colombo. Ruki Fernando, a human rights defender working with …

Sri Lanka crisis: Refugees in Tamil Nadu were dreaming of returning to their island nation
2 years, 7 months ago

Sri Lanka crisis: Refugees in Tamil Nadu were dreaming of returning to their island nation

The Hindu  

For over 80 Tamils, including children and infants, who took boats and landed in Tamil Nadu in the last few months, the risky journey was not only about fleeing Sri Lanka’s dire economic situation. “After spending years or decades away in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu, many families came back hoping to build a new life here,” says P. Nagenthiran, …

T.N. requests temporary asylum for Tamils arriving from Sri Lanka
2 years, 8 months ago

T.N. requests temporary asylum for Tamils arriving from Sri Lanka

The Hindu  

With people from Tamil-speaking areas of Sri Lanka arriving in Tamil Nadu illegally in the wake of the economic crisis in the island nation, the State government has requested the Union government to grant permission for “special provisions to give temporary asylum” to them, as in the case of the refugees staying in camps. Fishermen’s plight In a letter to …

Sri Lankan family returns to Tamil Nadu as refugees after 12 years
2 years, 9 months ago

Sri Lankan family returns to Tamil Nadu as refugees after 12 years

India Today  

A family of four, including a 2-year-old child, reached Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka on Friday, April 8. The severe economic crisis has forced another family from Sri Lanka to come to India as refugees. Ranjitha and Kishanthan used to live as refugees in India during the Sri Lankan civil war. The Indian coast guard has advised officials to intensify …

Passage to India: Arrival of economic refugees from Sri Lanka looms large
2 years, 9 months ago

Passage to India: Arrival of economic refugees from Sri Lanka looms large

The Hindu  

O n March 29, the Indian Coast Guard observed a Sri Lankan fishing boat off Point Calimere on the Indian side of the International Maritime Boundary Line. Indian intelligence agencies suspect that the boat was on a reconnaissance mission to figure out new landing strips on the Indian side because of a new business opportunity: that of ferrying Sri Lankan …

Home away from home: Sri Lankan Tamils and Rohingyas rebuild their lives
2 years, 9 months ago

Home away from home: Sri Lankan Tamils and Rohingyas rebuild their lives

The Hindu  

Although India has hosted refugees since Independence, it is not a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol and does not have a national policy applicable to refugees. The study, titled ‘ Rohingyas and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu: a replicable model of semi-permanent resettlement in low-resource settings ’, published in Equality, Diversity …

Question mark remains over status of 16 Sri Lankans who reached T.N.
2 years, 9 months ago

Question mark remains over status of 16 Sri Lankans who reached T.N.

The Hindu  

The illegal entry of 16 persons from Sri Lanka’s Northern Province into Rameswaram on Tuesday has triggered a debate on whether they can be accorded the refugee status. Ordinarily, a person who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is regarded as a refugee …

Rehabilitation welcome but citizenship elusive
3 years, 3 months ago

Rehabilitation welcome but citizenship elusive

The Hindu  

Subashini, a young woman Sri Lankan Tamil refugee of the Mandapam camp near Rameswaram, comes out of the premises in a hurry, only to tell this writer that “please convey our appreciation to the Chief Minister for a well-conceived package”. But most of the refugees do not qualify for Indian citizenship as they are called “illegal migrants” for having entered …

Tamil Nadu government announces a slew of benefits for Sri Lankan refugees, including measures to improve conditions in camps
3 years, 4 months ago

Tamil Nadu government announces a slew of benefits for Sri Lankan refugees, including measures to improve conditions in camps

The Hindu  

Stalin has announced a series of welfare measures and benefits for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, at a total cost of Rs.317 crore. The first Sri Lankan Tamil refugees came to Tamil Nadu following the ethnic cleansing pogrom in Sri Lanka in 1983. The scheme includes construction of 3,510 houses for Sri Lankan refugees at a cost of …

Dozens of Rohingya camping outside UNHCR office in India detained
3 years, 10 months ago

Dozens of Rohingya camping outside UNHCR office in India detained

Al Jazeera  

At least 88 Rohingya detained in New Delhi while camping outside the UN refugee body’s office in second such move in a week. Rohingya community leaders said the refugees had come to New Delhi on Wednesday from Jammu district in Indian-administered Kashmir, where more than 160 Rohingya were detained last week and taken to a “holding centre” in Kathua district, …

Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu: The nowhere people
3 years, 10 months ago

Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu: The nowhere people

India Today  

Days after the Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act in December 2019, T Yanadhan, a 28-year-old man born to Sri Lankan Tamil parents living in a refugee camp in Pavalathanur in Tamil Nadu's Salem district, sought the collector's permission to kill himself. Yanadhan is one among 94,069 Sri Lanka Tamil refugees living in various parts of Tamil Nadu: most of …

I favour return of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka, says former CM of Sri Lanka's Northern Province
4 years, 11 months ago

I favour return of Tamil refugees to Sri Lanka, says former CM of Sri Lanka's Northern Province

The Hindu  

The former Chief Minister of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka, C.V. Wigneswaran, on Monday asserted that he was for the return of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in Tamil Nadu and other parts of India to home soil. When asked whether his recent call for the granting of dual citizenship to the refugees marked any nuanced shift in position …

Return to the homeland
5 years ago

Return to the homeland

The Hindu  

Critics of the Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019 ask why Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka will not be given citizenship under the new law. Influx of refugees From the time Tamil Nadu began witnessing an influx of refugees from August 1983 following Black July in Sri Lanka, the Indian government has maintained that these refugees should go back on their …

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, the nowhere people
5 years ago

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India, the nowhere people

The Hindu  

Defying logic, two communities of SriLankan Tamils have been left out of the ambit of the Citizenship Bill : the plantation Tamils, who have roots in India and were forcibly relocated to Sri Lanka by the British as indentured labourers, and the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in India. The Sri Lankan Tamils in refugee camps tick one more box; …

Tamils should get back lost land: Sri Lankan refugees
5 years, 1 month ago

Tamils should get back lost land: Sri Lankan refugees

Deccan Chronicle  

RAMESWARAM: Responding to the return of the Rakjapaksa brothers to the helm of government in Sri Lanka with a sense of apprehension and trepidation, Tamil refugees from the Island-Republic staying in the Mandapam transit camp near here have urged the new regime to return all the land and property the Tamils in North and East lost during the long civil …

25 Sri Lankan Tamil families want to return home
5 years, 10 months ago

25 Sri Lankan Tamil families want to return home

Deccan Chronicle  

Rameswaram: At least 25 Sri Lankan Tamil families staying the in the largest camp for them at Mandapam camp near here for long years have petitioned the special deputy thasildar in-charge of the transit camp, Mr. Ramachandran, stating they wish to get back to Sri Lanka as early as possible. This is reflective of a wider trend found among over …

Sri Lanka wants to take back all Tamil refugees from India: Envoy
5 years, 11 months ago

Sri Lanka wants to take back all Tamil refugees from India: Envoy

India TV News  

Sri Lanka wants to take back all Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are now in India, country's High Commissioner to India Austin Fernando said on Friday. "With around 5,000 of these refugees having already returned, we now want to take the rest of them back to their original places," Fernando said while delivering a speech on "Post 2015: Reconciliation Milestones …

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