A statement from a top Sri Lankan minister offering to resettle Tamil refugees living close to Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu has become a hot topic of discussion among the refugees. But the offer from Sri Lankan Resettlement Minister Gunaratne Weerakoon has been broadly rejected by the refugees, who say there are many difficulties to the proposition.
In a statement on Sunday, Weerakoon had said, “The Lankan refugees are welcomed to their native places, if they wish to return. They will be resettled in their places of origin.”
But many Tamil refugees who live in camps near Chennai have flatly rejected Weerakoon’s invitation for return.
“Some of the refugees have heard the news. But we have been told that only those who have inherited lands in their native places would be repatriated,” says Sivan, an inmate at the Puzhal camp.
Sivan had come to India during the 1990s from Triconamalee along with his family and managed to find a job in a small shop. Back home, Sivan had been a farmer, working in lands that he had inherited. “I am eligible to be repatriated. But I don’t own the land at home anymore. If I choose to be repatriated, I will not have a living to make,” says Sivan with a dry smile, explaining why Weerakoon’s offer doesn’t make sense to him.
Apart from worries over how to make ends meet, the refugees have other concerns. They feel once repatriated, they could be targeted.
“Once a refugee has been repatriated in Lanka he or she will be supervised every now and then by the forces,” says Mugilan (name changed), an inmate of the Chengalpet special refugee camp.
Further, refugees like him would be targeted even more because they had been held at special refugee camp, Mugilan adds, saying they would be picked up by security forces and blamed for the smallest local disturbances. “The days of war are not changed even today,” he declares.
It is not just concerns over livelihood and safety that are on the minds of the refugees. Fundamental considerations like the amenities available also play a big role in the decision of a majority of the refugees not to return to the lands of their birth.
“Here in Tamil Nadu we get Rs 750 per head as financial aid per month. The government took steps to build houses, laying roads, constructing drainages, etc. We are getting free electricity too,” says Amudha (name changed).
She adds that her children have the opportunity of getting an education and finding jobs, as long as they remain in India. “We have been provided all the basic amenities here. But we are skeptical if we will have these benefits back home,” says Amudha, who still has family living in Mannar.
According to Param, a volunteer with Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabiliation (OfERR), there are many questions that remain unanswered. “It is difficult to say that those who repatriated are leading a peaceful life in Sri Lanka. The minister’s call for repatriation is good. But where will the repatriates reside? What about their employment? What about their children’s education?” he asks.
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