28500 refugees to get Sri Lankan citizenship

By: Kassapa Ellepola

The JVP yesterday said 28500 refugees from Sri Lanka in Tamilnadu refugee camps would be granted Sri Lankan citizenship within a month following six months of the Parliament select committee meeting for discussions.

It was reported that around 80,000 refugees, who had left the country because of the war, were residing in camps in Tamilnadu and among them 28,500 do not have citizenship in any country and do not possess Passports, Birth Certificates or Identity Cards to prove their identity.

JVP Parliamentarian Ramalingam Chandrasekaran said when the JVP members visited Tamilnadu, people there requested their help to get citizenship in Sri Lanka. "We made a request to Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickramanayake that these refugees be granted citizenship in the country. He gave a positive response towards the matter and agreed to present a cabinet paper," he said.

He further said they had discussed the matter with the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, the Immigration and Emigration Department, the Department of Registration of persons and received a favorable response.

"The Law does not offer sufficient opportunity for it, so we needed to amend few of the acts approved by the parliament. A bill has been prepared to this effect and it is with the Attorney General’s Department now," he said.

"As soon as we get the bill approved, the PM has agreed to present it to Parliament. All parties have promised their support towards the bill being passed in Parliament," he added.