Light at the end of the tunnel

Refugees have not occupied much of the media space unless there is a crisis. Refugees from Syria, are now given relatively more attention. Fair enough. But what about those who are living in Tamil Nadu. For some readers, it will be surprising to hear that there are 107 camps in which over 67000 refugees from Sri Lanka are housed since 1991. Technically they came to India in 1983-84 and went back home from 1987-1990. Though some went home even in 1997, most of them came back to be refugees in Tamil Nadu. So, this is the second generation that as grown up in Tamil Nadu, without knowing much about their home land. The unfulfilled political promises and the war have determined their uncertainty in India for over 35 years. 

The refugees have been keenly watching the happenings in Sri Lanka in the last 6 years. Since the end of the war in May, 2009, there was a climate of suspicion constant sense of insecurity in their minds. The news coming from the relatives to cemented their fears of return. However, the last year and a half has been quite different. Though there is not much that has changed in terms of systems and structures, the election of the new president and prime minister have sent positive messages. 

The return rate which was around 2000-3000 people per year drastically reduced to less than 900 in 2014-15. This is believed to be because those who had returned came in 2007-08 and they were in a hurry to get back. While others who returned had other family related emergencies. The significant drop was also because the messages that came across the Palk Strait were negative. Some discussions on both the sides of the strait revealed that the reason for the drop was that there was no organized governmental efforts to take back refugees to return. Neither was there a sincere call from the Sri Lankan government nor was there a conscious support package from India. 

Though wanting to return was in the mind of the refugees. They wanted to be sure that they will not go back home and stay in camps. The did not want to go back to restart their lives from scratch. They wanted a new identity that would be backed by policy that would protect their rights. They even outlined it in a document titled,"Asserting the right to return" (2014). This helped them take the process further. 

They discussed these issues in the track two and track three diplomatic channels. It opened the doors to track one. Meetings with the external affairs minsters of India and Sri Lanka since 2014 proved fruitful. It kept the foot on the pedal and did not loose steam in the process. It finally culminated when it became part of the official discussions in Colombo during the visit of the External affairs minister of India. The discussion became public and sent a clear message that evoked a a variety of responses from the refugee community. For those who are waiting to go home this was a tiding of joy. especially because it spoke about the ferry service which would enable them to carry all that they had earned and saved in India, provision of support for livelihood, housing and land rights. This is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. For those who wanted to stay back in India this sounded like a gong to wake up to reality and for those who live outside the camps it was rather confusing as this would threaten their status. 

Those who have observed this situation for a long time in the refugee camps this is a message that comes after so much of thought. It seems like the central government of India is ready to take a call along with the government of Sri Lanka, while the Tamil Nadu government is playing it cautiously for obvious reasons of the timing of these happenings.