N., a young refugee living in a resettlement camp for Sri Lankan Tamils in Thoothukudi district. Leena, another young refugee in Sivagangai S. Dilakshana, and Inbamalaar, a middle-aged woman in a rehabilitation camp in Virudhunagar, are feeling a sense of new hope. They were among those who benefited from 772 new houses inaugurated by Chief Minister MK Stalin for camp refugees on October 7. After all, they have better shelter to protect them from the vagaries of nature. They are doubly pleased by the September 1 gazette notification of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), which regularized the entry and stay of undocumented or overstayed Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who entered the country before January 9, 2015.
Ms Leena and Ms Dilakshana were both born in Tamil Nadu – the former in Thoothukudi and the latter in Sivagangai – while Ms Inbamalaar moved from Jaffna district in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province in 1990, when the civil war between Tamil rebels and Sri Lankan security forces resumed after a brief ceasefire.
tin sheets and thatched roof
“Initially, we refugees were housed in houses made of tin sheets (houses with thatched roofs were also provided). Over time, the houses improved,” says Ms. Inbamalaar, who lives in Mallankinaru, Virudhunagar, thanking the current Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for how it is enhancing the quality of life of the refugees. Skill development training and mental health awareness programs are the latest initiatives being implemented for them.
The Home Ministry releases funds to the state government to share the cost of relief and other measures. Its 2023-24 annual report said the central government spent about ₹1,375 crore to provide relief and housing to these refugees during the period between July 1983 and June 2024.
For Thyalini, who lives in Thappathy camp in Thoothukudi, about 13 km from Ettayapuram, life has been more stressful than others. She has experienced multiple displacements since arriving in the state in 1990 at the age of six. In a way, she is happy to have found permanent, quality shelter, as she had faced difficulties due to various factors, including lack of proper shelter. Recalling that they were concerned about facilities for domestic sewage and rainwater discharge, in the wake of similar problems encountered in a camp in Dindigul, refugees in many of the new camps are relieved that the situation is no longer the same. R, who lives in a rehabilitation camp in Sorakolthur, about 15 km from Tiruvannamalai town. Jayachandran came to Tamil Nadu in 1990 at the age of 12. As a prominent figure in his camp, Mr. Jayachandran has been closely following developments regarding refugees in general. “In my camp, we have discussed the implications of the Home Ministry’s notification. Certainly, it is a step forward,” he says.
Refugees not only in Sorakolathur but in all other camps have viewed the central government’s decision positively, although many see the notification as removing the tag of “illegal immigrants” from them. In fact, the order exempts undocumented or overstaying refugees from sub-sections 1, 2 and 3 of Section 3 of the Immigration and Foreigners Act, 2025 (requirement of passport or other travel document and visa). Under the law, which came into force in April, entry and stay of foreigners without passport or valid documents is punishable with a fine of Rs 5 lakh or imprisonment of up to five years or both. The Act comprises four laws – the Passports (Entry into India) Act, 1920; Foreigners’ Registration Act, 1939; Foreigners Act, 1946; and the Immigration (Carrier Obligation) Act, 2000.
The important element of notification for exemption from penal provisions is that the refugees must be registered with the concerned authorities. However, there are some, especially non-camp refugees, who for one reason or the other have not been able to renew their registration, and who, as per the understanding of the concerned authorities, have become unregistered persons. These persons are not eligible for relief even if they have been in India long before the date specified in the notification, January 9, 2015.
time consuming process
The option before these unregistered persons is that they will have to return to Sri Lanka after obtaining an exit visa from the authorities, a process that may take a few months, and from there they will have to apply for a visa from the Indian High Commission in the neighboring country. The chances of a hassle-free process for those returning to Sri Lanka seem low, as they may be subjected to lengthy questioning by immigration officials. There would be no purpose in going there, says a non-camp refugee who had to flee India in the mid-1980s after the 1983 anti-Tamil genocide.
Even though this “unregistered refugee” holds a full Sri Lankan passport issued by the Deputy High Commission of Sri Lanka in Chennai – a system that no longer exists – he is not in a position to use it as there is no visa entry on the document. He is aware of the fact that India, despite not being a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, is following the principle of. non refoulement (Prohibiting States from forcibly returning persons to their countries of origin when there are sufficient grounds to conclude that such persons would be at risk of irreparable harm if returned). Yet the middle-aged refugee, who does not wish to reveal his identity, is eager to overcome the uncertainty surrounding himself and his family.
Despite its nature of providing limited relief to registered refugees, the notification has forced both subject experts and critics of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Center to respond more or less in similar fashion. Everyone has expressed hope that this will pave the way for refugees to get Indian citizenship. An expert recalls that before six religious minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians) belonging to Bangladesh and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, were granted citizenship through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019, similar relief was first given to refugees by a notification dated September 7, 2015. They were exempted from relevant legal provisions. Afghanistan was later included during the enactment of CAA, 2019.
Former presidents of the state unit of BJP, Union Minister L. Murugan and K. Annamalai had said on his respective social media handles in early September that this development is just one step away from granting citizenship to refugees. While welcoming the move and claiming credit on behalf of the DMK, party deputy general secretary and MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi however felt that “true justice is yet to be done”. He argued that many who came later were “arbitrarily excluded by the cut-off date” due to harassment. He mentioned in his post that “continued denial of the path to citizenship” has made his struggle “incomplete”.
Crossing their native places in Sri Lanka, refugees interviewed by this journalist emphatically stated that only obtaining citizenship would provide them with a “permanent solution” to their problems. Only such steps will improve livelihood opportunities for the youth. Certainly, since not all young refugees get an undergraduate (UG) degree or diploma, they face many hurdles in their careers. In his reply in July this year under the Right to Information Act, giving course-wise details of refugee-students, the Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Welfare of Non-Resident Tamils said that during 2023-24 and 2024-25, the number of engineering UG students was 188 and 193 respectively; Arts and Sciences UG courses 1,150 and 1,152; Diploma Courses 245 and 191; and technical courses 246 and 384.
Ms. Dilakshana, who has a degree in Information Technology, is distressed that unlike her friends, she is unable to appear for competitive examinations, including those conducted by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC). “I am a refugee, that’s the only factor going against me. Otherwise, I am as eager as anyone else to prepare and appear for the exams. If given a chance, I will do well,” says the young mother of two. Ms. Leena also agrees with his sentiments.
The refugee tag, which does not make them comfortable, comes in the way of youth wanting jobs commensurate with their educational qualifications. “Though a handful of people from our community have been able to join IT companies, the majority of people in the productive age group are daily wage earners,” says Thangeswaran, a resident of Thotanuthu camp in Dindigul. He said even people with engineering degrees go to big cities like Coimbatore for work, but return to the camps because they are not able to stay there for long.
periodic head count
One of the reasons is the condition that camp refugees have to appear in person at the time of periodic enumeration. He explains that it is for this purpose that he has to take leave from work and attend the camps, adding that this creates practical difficulties. Finally, painting and carpentry are some of the jobs that refugees commonly take up.
The principle position of the Central Government is that eligible people can acquire citizenship by registration or naturalization. But most refugees are considered illegal immigrants, a condition that makes them ineligible for citizenship. That is why the latest notification has given them hope of obtaining Indian citizenship, as was the case with six minority groups from three South Asian countries who ceased to be termed illegal immigrants under the CAA, 2019. Before the Act, they were exempted from penal provisions. Although refugees have suffered for a long time, the executive and judiciary have been sympathetic. The state government, which has been taking several measures to enable refugees to live a life with dignity, is embracing the idea of doing more amid the constraints. Over the last six to seven years, the Madras High Court has come to the rescue of refugees and ensured citizenship to some within legal parameters.
Sri Lankan refugees know that the road ahead is not so simple and easy, especially in terms of acquiring Indian citizenship. A large number of them claim that all their ancestors migrated from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in the last 200 years for employment in tea gardens, making them eligible for citizenship. Others say that being born and brought up in Tamil Nadu and accustomed to the lifestyle of the state, they consider Sri Lanka as foreign as any other country. Despite the complexity of their life stories, the young refugees have not lost hope in the Indian state and are hopeful of attaining Indian citizenship, if not for themselves, then at least for their heirs.
