PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi) founder S Ramadoss on Monday, April 25, urged the Union government to declare Sri Lankan Tamils coming to India owing to the dire economic situation on the island as refugees. In a statement issued in Chennai, Ramadoss said owing to the economic situation in Sri Lanka, the number of Tamils from the island nation coming to Tamil Nadu is on the rise. While the Tamil Nadu government is willing to help them with cash and other items, it is not able to do so as the Union government has not announced them as refugees, Ramadoss said.
Referring to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to declare the Sri Lankan Tamils coming to the state as refugees, he said no action has been taken on it by the Union government. Till date, 75 Tamils from Sri Lanka have reached Tamil Nadu, unable to survive the economic crisis in their nation. Another 60 persons who had come to India on tourist visas have announced that they will not go back due to the economic crisis.
During the internal strife in Sri Lanka, over three lakh Tamils came to Tamil Nadu and they were declared refugees. But after the end of the internal war, most of them have returned to Sri Lanka, Ramadoss said. According to him, at present only 58,547 Lankan Tamils belonging to 19,233 families are living in Tamil Nadu spread out in 108 refugee camps. Ramadoss requested the Union government to declare the Lankan Tamils coming to Tamil Nadu as refugees and allow the state government to render them assistance.
Reiterating the Tamil Nadu government's commitment to ship foodgrains, vegetables and medicines from the Thoothukudi port for the Tamils in northern and eastern parts of Lanka and its capital Colombo as well as those working in the plantations, CM Stalin had recently urged the Union government to allow the state to ship essential commodities to Sri Lanka as humanitarian aid.