Ethnic Composition · Part 2

Tamil Refugees Issue In , immediately after the country’s independence, a controversial law labelled the Ceylon Citizenship Act was passed in the Sri Lankan Parliament which deliberately discriminated against the Tamils of South Indian origin, whose ancestors had settled in the country in the th and th centuries. This Act made it virtually impossible for them to obtain citizenship and over , Tamils (consisting of up to % of the country’s total population) were made stateless. In , a pact was signed between Bandaranaike and the then Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to repatriate much of the population of the stateless Tamils. Over the next years, successive Sri Lankan governments were actively engaged in deporting over , Tamils back to India. It wasn’t until , after a state-sponsored programme against Tamils and a full-scale civil war, that Indian Tamils were granted citizenship but by this time, their population had dwindled to just % of the country’s population. Tamils repatriated to India were assimilated with location population after taking Indian citizenships. Around , refugees, living in camps across Tamil Nadu, have been receiving various relief measures of the Central and State governments. In addition, in recent years, the Tamil Nadu government has taken steps for scores of young boys and girls of the refugee community to join professional courses, particularly engineering. This has benefitted eligible candidates among , non-camp refugees in the State too. Change in status quo At present, for both India and Sri Lanka, the repatriation of refugees must be a priority. Tamil Nadu hosts the largest number of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India. It would be in the interest of both the countries to find the permenant resolution for this problem. While for India a long- standing problem would be resolved, for Sri Lanka it would be a step towards ethnic reconciliation. The two governments can come out with a comprehensive package on voluntary repatriation, after involving representatives of the refugee community, the Tamil Nadu government and Sri Lanka’s Northern Provincial Council. For refugees who want