Govt. to issue all-country passports to Lankans in TN refugee camps

CHENNAI:Malarmathi Rajendran is thrilled. She will be joining her son Navaneethan soon in London where he is pursuing higher studies. “I could never have dreamed that this could prove to be such an easy process,” said Malamrmathi, a Sri Lankan refugee from the Salem camp, after receiving the all-country passport issued for the first time in Chennai by the Sri Lankan deputy high commission.

Earlier, refugees were only issued one-way passports to Sri Lanka and there was uncertainty whether they could get back to India with the same ‘refugee’ status.

Malarmathi was among 200 refugee applicants who received all-country passports on Friday from Sri Lanka high commissioner to India Kshenuka Senewiratne, Tamil Nadu minister for non-resident Tamils and refugees welfare Gingee K S Masthan, governor of the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka Senthil Thondaman and deputy high commissioner of Sri Lanka to southern India D Venkateshwaran.

The Sri Lankan government has now decided to issue all-country passports to Sri Lankan Tamils living in rehabilitation/refugee camps across Tamil Nadu. This would mean that all-country passport holders can apply for any country visa from India itself. A decision to this effect was taken in July last year following a discussion held between President Ranil Wickremesinghe and representatives of Tamil parties.

So far, more than 3,500 applicants have shown interest to apply for the passports under this scheme and 900 applicants have already applied for passports, said an official release. The significance of this initiative is that for the first time, the Sri Lanka government, under this initiative has considered issuing passports to children born in India to Sri Lankan parents, who are resettled in Tamil Nadu if they meet the necessary documents requirements, the release said.

It is not clear if the released convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, including Sriharan alias Murugan, Santhan, Robert Payas and Jayakumar, lodged in the Trichy special camp, would be eligible for the all-country passport. Murugan, Payas and Jayakumar have pleaded with the Indian government against their extradition to Sri Lanka. Santhan, meanwhile, has filed a writ petition seeking to go back to the Island nation to visit his ailing mother.

Early last year, the Sri Lankan department of immigration and emigration had received a list of 2,678 Sri Lankans living in rehabilitation camps in south India, eligible for receiving the all-country passports. Subsequently, a decision was taken to issue all-country passports to the rest of the Sri Lankan Tamils living in rehabilitation camps in south India.

A total of 92,000 Sri Lankans, who came to India both by legal and illegal means, are currently living in Tamil Nadu. Nearly 58,500 of them are accommodated in 106 rehabilitation camps across the state and around 33,500 reside outside the camps under Tamil Nadu police registration.(ToI)