Sri Lanka may have succeeded in destroying the LTTE, but the Tamil Eelam dream remains. Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in 115 camps across 25 districts of Tamil Nadu believe that they can return to their country if only a separate Eelam is created for them. Nearly 99% also believe that LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran is alive and will resurface on November 26, Maaveerar Naal (Heroes Day).
"The Sinhalese hate Tamils. We lived as refugees in our own country for 35 years and were denied all rights, including educational opportunities. How do you expect us to return to Sri Lanka? We would rather die as refugees here," Sundari, 46, who fled Kandy and Mullaittivu subsequently, told DNA at the Gummidipoondi camp ( 45 km from Chennai).
Similar sentiments were expressed by other refugees, including the youth. Some of them were infants when they had left their homeland.
"We may be refugees without any rights here, but at least we are leading a peaceful life. A fortnight ago, we got a call from a relative at the Vavuniya camp and the news from Sri Lanka was not very encouraging. In the government camps, Tamils are kept behind barbed wires and suffer for want of food and medicines. We are willing to be repatriated if only our people are rehabilitated with equal rights and lead a prosperous life," J Rasilda Mary, 25, whose family fled Kokkilai in Mullaittivu when she was 10 months old, said.
Government officials and those of Organisation for Eelam Refugees' Rehabilitation (OfERR), an NGO launched by former Sri Lankan Tamil leader SJV Chelvanayakam's son SC Chandrahasan and run by Sri Lankan refugees, say the Sri Lankan government has a bigger task of rehabilitating over 3 lakh internally displaced people (IDPs), most of them living in Menik Farm in Vavuniya. OfERR believes that it will take close to 10 years for all the refugees to be repatriated to their native land.
"We will soon write letters to the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu to keep in mind a timeframe of 5-10 years for complete repatriation of refugees. The Sri Lankan government wants to screen the refugees to filter out remaining militants, if any. Under the circumstances, one wonders if the government will be able to complete the process of rehabilitation in six months," OfERR director of advocacy M Sakkariyas, a former assistant commissioner of labour under the Sri Lanka Administrative Service who arrived in India in 1985, said.
"Some of the freed regions, such as Jaffna, are still high security zones. It will take a long time for internally displaced people to be relocated. Before repatriating refugees their children's education will need to be addressed. They would like their children to complete their education before relocating to Sri Lanka. Further, we are given to understand from the deputy high commissioner's office that about 30% of the people are of Indian origin and need to be granted Sri Lankan citizenship. The deputy high commissioner feels it would be better to complete the formalities here before they are sent to Sri Lanka. However, fishermen from Mannar and Trincomalee, which weren't a part of the war zone, would like to return soon as they haven't got suitable jobs here. They would like to return to fishing and they can get exit permits from the respective district collectors after getting due permission from the police," Sakkariyas said.
"We have 73,675 refugees in 115 camps in 25 districts of the state. The main camps, including the transit camp at Mandapam, are in Madurai, Erode and Tiruvanamalai. We also have 26,976 non-camp refugees registered with the police. Any decision on their fate has to taken by the governments of India and Sri Lanka. This is likely to happen only after the internally displaced people of Sri Lanka are rehabilitated. We then have to get the willingness of the refugees to return to their native land, before we think of repatriating them," a senior officer at the office of the special commissioner and commissioner of rehabilitation said.
"The UNHCR has helped some 104 refugees return to Lanka. In case the refugees are not willing to return, they will have to stay in the camps in India. In that event, New Delhi will have decide on whether to give them citizenship or otherwise," he said.
No fresh influx
There has been practically no flow of refugees ever since the Sri Lankan government announced an end to the war and the LTTE's defeat. "We've no reports of boats carrying refugees reaching Indian shores," a senior officer at the office of the special commissioner and commissioner of rehabilitation said. "The last batch that reached Vijayawada was last month. Some of them died of starvation," OfERR director of advocacy said.
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