Centre should consider citizenship for Lankan refugees

Our country started the journey as an independent nation with the flow of 10 million people crossing the borders between India and Pakistan, the highest-ever recorded in human history. The issue of refugees has been prevalent since the beginning of our history. The oldest camp is located in the West Bengal known as Coopers camp, where 7,000 partition refugees are still awaiting Indian citizenship.

One can see two trends in the way India addressed the refugee problem. One trend is that of welcoming the refugees, sheltering them and looking after them well.

In 1959, when the Dalai Lama reached India with his followers, Nehru provided all that they asked for, including an educational system of their own. The Tibetans are well-educated and in Dharamshala and Mysuru, one can find the two large settlements of Tibetans. The Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were received and sheltered in the camps and outside the camps. They were looked after well in the initial stages and after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, there were more restrictions and those who live in the camps continue to live without any durable solution. The ‘Chakmas’ from the Chittagong hill tract entered India in 1964-65 and mainly settled in the North-eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Tripura.

The Chakmas are Buddhists, whereas the Hajong are Hindus. The three (Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees and Chakams) are the ones who are recognised by India.

The treatment meted out to them is very different. The Tibetans live freely in their settlements, pursue studies, go abroad and all other concessions are given to them. The Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living in the refugee camps have only one option-- voluntary repatriation to Sri Lanka, otherwise continue their stay in the camps, abiding by rules, regulations and surveillance. Some Chakmas live in camps in Tripura and others are in Arunachal Pradesh and other states in NorthEast India where they work, earn and lead their life.

The second trend is about other refugee groups whom India did not recognise, such as the Afghans, Burmese/ Myanmerese and refugees from Africa and Middle East countries. They are treated as ‘foreigners temporarily residing in India’. There are several ethnic groups of Burma such as Chins and Rohingyas and several Africans such as Somalis, Sudanese and Iraqis and Palestinians in India. 

In other words, they are considered as ‘urban refugees’. They live in the cities and work mostly in the informal sector. The government has given long term visas and work permit (which is a welcoming feature) and live like anybody else anywhere in the cities. Because of their incomes being small, they live in the areas which are crowded and in almost slum like conditions.

Some of them are looked after by the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees).

The recent announcement of repatriating the Rohingyas from India goes against India’s policy since independence, of receiving refugees. Though India is not a signatory to the International Convention on Refugees of 1951 (none of the South Asian Countries are signatory to the Convention), it followed in letter and spirit the policy of ‘non-refoulment’, which is the cardinal principle of the Convention. (Sending the refugees against their will to their home country, where there is a well-founded fear of persecution).

It is a well-known fact that India hosted more than five million refugees from East Pakistan during the Bangladesh liberation war. The then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, felt while hosting a huge refugee population from East Pakistan that there was no ‘burden sharing’ by the International Community.

The citizenship amendment act of 2016 is addressing the issue of refugees by granting them citizenship. 

Five religious categories (Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis) from three countries (Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan) are considered for citizenship. Meanwhile a few days ago the government said it would like to extend the citizenship to Chakmas, who number a lakh. If so, why are the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees left out in the consideration for citizenship?

If religion is the basis on which the citizenship is going to be considered, most of the Sri Lankan

Tamil refugees are Hindus by faith. In the camps, those who opt to leave, may be repatriated to Sri Lanka, but those who would like to stay back like the other refugee categories in India, should be considered for citizenship. The broad categories and issues such as ‘race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group’ that makes a person a refugee, has to be taken into consideration.