Rokshini, a 30-year-old Sri Lankan Tamil refugee residing in the Thoppukollai camp in Pudukottai district with her two children, finds it difficult to describe her feeling. Her nearly year-long struggle came to fruition on Tuesday morning, when she received consular birth certificates for her two children, both of whom are less than 10 years of age.
“It was quite hard for me and my husband to gather all the documents required by the authorities. Yet, in the end, I feel satisfied that our hard work has not gone waste,” says Rokshini, a native of Neduntivu in the northern province of Sri Lanka, who has been living in India as a refugee for the past 25 years.
Ms. Rokshini’s children were not the only ones to receive the consular birth certificates, which are issued by the Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission here. In fact, there were 158 other children who received the document on Tuesday. A day earlier, 184 children, from two camps in Madurai and one in Tirunelveli, were provided with birth certificates — a mandatory document for anyone who is born outside his or her country of origin.
Shobha Mahendran, the Thoppukollai camp leader, says the consular birth certificate is a pre-requisite for acquiring citizenship of the neighbouring country. “In the past, some refugee-parents did not bother to get the certificate for the children who were born in Tamil Nadu. When they subsequently returned to Sri Lanka, they realised how hard it was for their children to receive benefits, entitlements and services that citizens were entitled to,” she says. A child is eligible to apply for citizenship, if either of his or her parents is a Sri Lankan national.
“We are planning to issue the certificates to 1,500 children this week, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of our country [falling on February 4],” says V. Krishnamoorthy, Deputy High Commissioner of Sri Lanka.
‘No forced repatriation’
In the next three days, refugees from various districts including Vellore, Karur, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Cuddalore, Erode and Tirupur will come to Chennai to get the certificates for their children for free. Mr. Krishnamoorthy says applications for citizenship would also be processed.
The services of a Chennai-based non-governmental organisation, OfFER (Organisation for Eelam Refugees’ Rehabilitation), are also being utilised for this purpose.
When asked about the number of children living in the camps without consular birth certificates, Mr. Krishnamoorthy says it could be around 10,000 to 11,000. In the last two years, nearly 5,000 children (3,520 children in 2017 and 1,469 in 2016) were covered. “Our plan is to bring it down to zero,” he says.
“Let me make it clear that if anyone wants to go back to Sri Lanka on his or her own volition, he or she is free to do so. We are not promoting forced repatriation,” he clarifies.
