The Sri Lankan government’s 26-year war with Tamil Tiger
rebels, which killed thousands, ended in May 2009. The bloody strife also
forced hundreds of thousands of civilians, specially those from the Tamil
community, to seek asylum abroad.
According to Home Office figures 1,893 Sri Lankan Tamils
landed in the UKin 1985 seeking asylum. In 1986 another 1,275 came to the UK and over the
years more refugees seeking safety have continued to arrive.
Paul Sathianesan, a councillor in Newham, came to London as a refugee in
1985 with one bag. The bag, his immigration papers and a box of earth from his
native village in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, has been donated to the Museum of London to document Tamil immigration.
Throughout 1985 Geetha Maheshwaran went to airports along
with her father, one of the founders of Shree Ghanapathy Templein Wimbledon, and brought refugees to the
temple. The Wimbledon temple and High Gate Hill Murugan Templein Archway gave shelter to hundreds of refugees for months.
Dr Arumugam Puvinathan also came to London as an asylum seeker in 1992, with his
wife and baby son. He currently works as a GP in London and also runs workshops for Sri Lankan
Tamils who suffer from the trauma of the war and losing relatives. – (BBC)
