A batch of nearly 200 Eelam Tamil who have been living in Tamil Nadu received Sri Lankan passports at a ceremony organized by the Sri Lankan High Commission in Chennai on Friday (19), after decades in limbo as refugees.
The High Commission noted that 900 applications have been received under the new initiative to issue passports to “resettled Sri Lankans living in Tamil Nadu.” Previously the Tamil refugees were compelled to travel to Sri Lanka on a passport issued under the Refugee Repatriation Program and then apply for a Sri Lankan passport from there. It was never clear whether they could then travel back to India and retain refugee status.
Under this new initiative, the Tamil refugees need not visit Sri Lanka but can apply for a Sri Lankan passport through the diplomatic mission in India. This will enable them to leave for a foreign country with ease rather than incurring additional costs and time by travelling to Sri Lanka .
The passports were distributed to the first batch of 200 at a ceremony at the Deputy High Commission in Chennai presided over by the Eastern Province Governor Senthil Thondaman, High Commissioner to India Kshenuka Seneviratne and Deputy High Commissioner D. Venkateshwaran.
The Hindu quoting the High Commissioner Seneviratne, said that this decision was taken by the government of Sri Lanka within its overarching national policy framework to “promote national reconciliation and integration with the collaboration of the related stakeholders.”
Tens of thousands of Tamils remain in Tamil Nadu as refugees, many of whom continue to suffer in state-designated camps.
