Terming as premature an inter-ministerial meeting to be held on Friday in New Delhi to discuss the issue of voluntary repatriation of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu, Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Wednesday called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the meeting for the present.
“The process of voluntary repatriation could be considered only after concrete and credible measures are taken by the Sri Lankan Government and the Sri Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu are given adequate verifiable assurances and [they] gain the requisite confidence to return to their native land,” Chief Minister said in his letter to Mr. Modi.
Pointing out that even now, refugees who wanted to leave for Sri Lanka on their own volition were doing so, the Chief Minister said the meeting could be perceived to be an exercise to encourage Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to leave for Sri Lanka. Besides, “the conditions in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka are still not conducive for the refugees to return to their native land,” he said.
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At present about 1.02 lakh refugees belonging to about 34,500 families were living in the State, of whom around 65,000 refugees were in 107 refugee camps, he added