The Sri Lankan Government has appointed a committee to facilitate the return of Sri Lankan refugees living in India, authorities said on September 5.
“A committee has been appointed by President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake to facilitate and efficiently carry out the process of repatriation of Sri Lankans who have gone to India as refugees due to the war,” the Presidential Media Division said, in a statement.
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Apart from officials from the President’s office, the Committee will include the Controller General of Immigration and Emigration, senior officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Registrar General’s Department and the Ministry of Justice.
The decision followed a request from the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR), a non-profit organisation that has been working with displaced Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India since 1984. In Sri Lanka, the organisation works with persons who have returned from India.
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According to the official statement, about 58,000 Sri Lankans are currently residing in Tamil Nadu as refugees and only 3,800 of them are ready to return to Sri Lanka at present. The Sri Lanka Deputy High Commissioner’s Office in Chennai is coordinating the efforts in this regard, the statement said.
