TN govt panel submits recommendations regarding Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan refugees

A panel constituted by the Tamil Nadu government to find durable solutions to short- and long-term issues of the Sri Lankan Tamils living in and out of camps across the State submitted its interim report to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin at the Secretariat on Friday. The interim report has explored ways of granting Indian citizenship to Sri Lankan nationals living in the State and made certain recommendations in this regard.

“We have submitted an interim report to the Chief Minister, outlining key recommendations on durable solutions to the issues of Sri Lankan Tamils living in Tamil Nadu and legal pathways towards citizenship. We have made the recommendations after studying the data collected from the camps over the past two years and assessing the evolution of jurisprudence in this regard,” Manuraj Shunmugasundaram, Legal Expert-Advisory Committee, told The Hindu.

According to a source that accessed the report, the panel has made recommendations that included pathways to citizenship, steps towards their integration into Indian society in Tamil Nadu and a repatriation package. The report makes a strong case for about 5,000-odd Tamils of Indian origin (who were taken to Sri Lanka by the colonial British to work in tea plantations) and explores options of citizenship for those often identified as Sri Lankan Tamils.

“The Indian-origin Tamils have a strong case as they left India only a hundred years ago and the three pacts signed between India and Sri Lanka — including the Sirimavo Bandaranaike-Lal Bahadur Shastri Pact and the Sirimavo Bandaranaike-Indira Gandhi Pact — favour Indian citizenship for them. As for Sri Lankan Tamils, they have been grouped into about six categories, depending on how they entered India, and explored options for each of the categories,” the source said.

For instance, a woman, born in 1987 to Sri Lankan parents who arrived in India and lived in a camp, obtained an Indian passport after moving the court, citing Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955. “There are several others who could benefit from this case. There are other categories who obtained birth certificates from Indian authorities or who married Indian citizens,” the source said.

Minister for Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Gingee K.S. Masthan submitted the report to the Chief Minister. Besides migration and refugee experts, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) and Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) were present.

Source - The Hindu
--Agencies