The illegal entry of 16 persons from Sri Lanka’s Northern Province into Rameswaram on Tuesday has triggered a debate on whether they can be accorded the refugee status.
The immigrants - three men, six women and seven children - cited economic crisis in their country as the reason for their action. But persons who are in the know of international law say this cannot be a ground for providing refugee status. Ordinarily, a person who has a well-founded fear of being persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is regarded as a refugee under the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which, along with the 1967 Protocol, forms the foundation of international law on refugees. Despite not ratifying the Convention and the Protocol, India had provided shelter to around three lakh Tamils who fled Sri Lanka in the wake of the 1983 Black July, when anti-Tamil riots broke out in that country.
Since 2012, India has not granted the status of refugee to anyone arriving from Sri Lanka, after the civil war ended in May 2009. Currently, there are around 90,000 camp and non-camp refugees in the State.
