The prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, is on a visit to Sri Lanka from April 4 to April 6. During his visit, he is expected to hold discussions on India-Sri Lanka relations, the fishermen’s issue, and bilateral security concerns. Reports indicate that several important agreements will also be signed during this trip.Even after more than 40 years, Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, who fled Sri Lanka due to the civil war, have found no permanent resolution to their plight. The war officially ended nearly 15 years ago, yet there is still no clear future for these refugees. During the parliamentary session in March 2025, the Immigration and Foreigners’ Bill were discussed and passed. The legislation included discussions on the Sri Lankan Tamils’ demand for Indian citizenship and the ways in which the amendments to immigration and foreign laws could negatively impact them.Against this backdrop, the Indian prime minister’s visit to Sri Lanka takes on significant importance. He has met with the Sri Lankan president, and is likely to meet Tamil political leaders and leaders from the Malaiyaha (Hill Country) Tamil community.Fear and uncertaintySri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu continue to live in deep anxiety about their future. The majority of them arrived in India from 1983 onward – some during the height of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1990, and others before 2004. Currently, there are 58,600 refugees living in 104 camps across 26 districts in Tamil Nadu. Of them, over 40,000 are of Indian origin. Furthermore, more than 35,000 of them were born in India. Many of them have no land, property, or close relatives left in Sri Lanka. Having lived in India for 30 to 40 years, Sri Lanka is foreign land to them. Children born in India have no connection to Sri Lanka whatsoever.However, reports suggest that during Modi’s visit, Sri Lankan Tamil political leaders and NGOs will discuss plans to repatriate Tamil refugees from Tamil Nadu back to Sri Lanka. Specifically, there are talks about resettling them in Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, from where most of them originally fled.Bitter historyThis is not the first time such a situation has arisen. In 1948, the citizenship of Tamils in Sri Lanka was revoked, plunging them into severe hardship. Following this, Sri Lanka demanded that India grant them citizenship and take them back. India engaged in negotiations with Sri Lanka, leading to the 1964 and 1974 agreements.These agreements were decided solely by the two governments. The affected people were neither consulted nor given a choice. Suddenly, the agreements were implemented, forcing people to apply for citizenship in either country. Many were coerced into making a choice. Families were torn apart – mothers left behind fathers, siblings were separated, and relationships disintegrated. The trains carrying these displaced people were called “oppari kochu” – wailing trains – after the mourning of those forced to leave.Those who were repatriated to India by ship under these agreements were promised rehabilitation schemes. However, these schemes never reached them properly. There was no proper oversight, and many were left stranded without jobs or homes. Having worked in tea plantations and as labourers, they struggled to survive. Due to the lack of adequate support, many migrated to Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu’s hill stations like Kodaikanal, Ooty, and Kotagiri. Even today, many of them remain landless and without stable livelihoods.Ongoing struggleA significant number of those who were supposed to be included in these agreements are now languishing in refugee camps in Tamil Nadu. Many of them arrived in India after 1983 but were never granted the Indian citizenship they were promised.One key question remains: India agreed to take back 600,000 people under the 1964 and 1974 agreements, including their natural increase in population. But did all of them reach India? How many more remain? Or were they simply left behind without a chance to migrate? Neither the Indian government nor the Tamil Nadu government have properly accounted for this. The failure to fully implement the 1964, 1974, and even the 1987 agreements has resulted in continued suffering for these people.A 2008 study by a Sri Lankan parliamentary committee in Tamil Nadu refugee camps (notably in Madurai district) identified 28,500 individuals as stateless persons. At the very least, India should have recognised them as its own citizens, but this did not happen.While the Indian government amended its citizenship laws to accommodate hundreds of thousands of its citizens from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, why did it ignore the stateless Tamils from Sri Lanka, many of whom are of Indian origin? This question has gone largely unnoticed.A call for justiceAs Modi prepares to visit Sri Lanka, he will meet with the Sri Lankan president and various political leaders. Given this context, the Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu demand a clear and permanent resolution to their plight.In particular, the 2008 report from the Sri Lankan parliamentary committee – led at the time by Ramalimgam Chandrasekaran, who is now a Member of Parliament – explicitly highlighted the struggles of Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu. Based on this report, Tamil refugees and their representatives expect Modi to take decisive action to secure their future.For decades, these people have remained in limbo. It is time for India to acknowledge its historical responsibility and provide them with a dignified resolution.A camp is, by definition, a temporary arrangement. But for Sri Lankan Tamils, it has stretched beyond 30 years, turning into a home, a permanent dwelling. The fact that the current Tamil Nadu government is converting these camps into concrete housing units offers both reassurance and hope.However, citing legal constraints on granting citizenship and court rulings that prevent forced deportation, these people are kept in camps indefinitely. As a result, a vast human resource is left unutilised, with over 30,000 young people growing up without any political participation, without democratic maturation, and without the means to integrate into society as independent, rights-bearing citizens. The continued emergence of new generations under such conditions does not foster a healthy social environment.A swift and permanent resolution, rooted in the will of the people, is both urgent and absolutely necessary.Saravanan Nadaraja is an activist and refugee at the Minnur Sri Lankan Refugee Camp in Tirupattur district, Tamil Nadu. Translated by Kavitha Muralidharan.
