Finally, a Proposal to Decide the Fate of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India

For decades thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils have lived as refugees in India, their pleas for citizenship rebuffed by a country they embraced to escape violence in their land. Now, a prominent Sri Lankan leader has called for a referendum to decide once and for all if they wish to remain in India or return to Sri Lanka.

Mano Ganesan, an outspoken opposition leader who heads the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA), said the issue of refugees has remained unresolved since 1983 when the first boatloads fled to India following anti-Tamil violence in the island nation.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.

“The refugee population in India, including those who have lived there for generations after migrating from Sri Lanka, many of whom are of Indian Tamil ancestry, face an uncertain future,” the MP said. “Their lives and citizenship cannot continue to be determined by the political whims of politicians on either side of the Palk Strait.”

This is the first time a leading Tamil leader has advocated a referendum among the estimated 89,000 Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, the bulk of whom live in more than 100 designated camps spread across the southern state.

Ganesan, whose forefathers hailed from India and who champions the interests of the so-called ‘Indian Tamils’, underlined that the refugees, almost 40 per cent of whom have been born on Indian soil, must be given the right to choose between Indian and Sri Lankan citizenship.

The problem, he said, “must now be settled once and for all through a humanitarian, rights-based and mutually agreed process…

“A free, fair and independent referendum should be conducted among these refugees to determine whether they wish to return to Sri Lanka or obtain Indian citizenship and continue their lives in India.”

A staggering 300,000 Tamils reached Tamil Nadu, separated from Sri Lanka by a strip of sea, during different years from 1983, when Tamil militancy began taking the shape of an insurgency.

While many went on to migrate to Western countries to start life anew, a small section returned home after a period of time.

As of now, at least 89,000 – some reports place the figure at over 100,000 – Sri Lankan Tamils live in Tamil Nadu. Around 60,000 are packed in refugee camps, partly on doles provided by Indian authorities. The rest, relatively better off economically, live in rented accommodation in in the state.

Some refugees have complained that their lives are shackled because of their uncertain status and they and their families find it both a pain and an insult that their repeated requests for Indian citizenship have been ignored.

“How long can we continue to be a refugee?” asked a Tamil in his 50s who lives in Chennai. “Frankly, it is very demeaning.

“Sri Lankan Tamils who chose Western countries got citizenship within a specified period,” he added, requesting that he should not be named. “Only India refuses us citizenship. Is this fair?”

In February this year, the then Tamil Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant Indian citizenship or long-term visas to the refugees.

In an open letter to the prime minister, Stalin urged the Union government to find a “humane and pragmatic” resolution to the limbo over their citizenship and legal status. He also pressed Modi to rescind an Indian government rule blocking citizenship applications from Sri Lankan Tamils.

While Stalin was voted out in May, there was no response from the Union government to his demand.

Ganesan, who recently visited India, said any outcome of the referendum he has suggested should be respected. “Those who choose to return to Sri Lanka should be facilitated with dignity, security and full rights. Those who want to remain in India should be given a clear pathway to Indian citizenship.”

While some leaders of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), Sri Lanka’s present dominant ruling party, earlier called upon the refugees to return to the island, they have become seemingly indifferent since taking power in Colombo in 2024.

Indeed, the Sri Lankan government has now announced that Tamil refugees who desire to return to their country must undergo scrutiny by the Sri Lankan intelligence. Earlier, police verification was deemed enough.

Even as some Tamil leaders want the refugees to return so as to bolster the dwindling Tamil population in Sri Lanka, young Tamils continue to quit the country for Canada, Europe and Australia, which are together home to a mammoth Tamil diaspora.

Unlike in India, where the refugees have been left hanging, innumerable Tamils of Sri Lankan origin have done well in the West, achieving success in various fields ranging from politics to multiple professions.

Shanthan K. Thambiah, one such Tamil who lives in London and is a UK citizen, said that in most countries, the refugees, once they are accepted, have access to children’s education, health services, social security, employment rights and housing assistance.

“This enabled them to start rebuilding their lives and gave them a feeling of security,” he said. In the process, members of the second generation Tamil diaspora are making enormous contributions in every sector.

“In contrast, the status of Tamil refugees in India is very vulnerable. That they have remained refugees for so long is unacceptable.”

There was a time when many of the refugees in India may have thought of returning home if there was peace. But Ganesan pointed out that a majority of those now in Tamil Nadu have no great desire to return to Sri Lanka since economic conditions are much better in India.

“So many Tamils have spent their entire adult lives in India or were born there. They studied there, they work there. Do they want to give up all that and return to an uncertain future?”

The MP added: “The situation in Sri Lanka is such that if, say, Canada were to send a ship to Trincomalee or Jaffna and grant visas to Tamils, thousands will gladly take up the offer. This is the unfortunate reality.”

Another refugee, who too did not want to be named, said it was a great pity that no one in authority in India appeared to be genuinely interested in their welfare.

“We become a talking point during elections; then we are forgotten,” he said. “For all practical purposes, most of us are already Indians, emotionally. Why not give us Indian citizenship?”

M.R. Narayan Swamy is a veteran journalist.

This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click .

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