Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to get Indian citizenship

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been promised with citizenship by the Chief Minister M Karunanidhi.

The chief minister on Saturday said he would ensure that the Centre granted citizenship to the more than one lakh Tamil Sri Lankan refugees living in the state.

With online petitions and civil activists calling for such a move from the Indian government, Karunanidhi's word has come as a comfort to many thousands who feared that with the end of Eelam war they would be sent back.

According to a source, there are 73,572 refugees staying in 115 camps across Tamil Nadu and more than 30,000 outside the camps.

The decision of Karunanidhi was welcomed by Peter Fernando, bishop of Madurai, who called it very "highly significant".

He rued that "until now refugee status prevented more than 100,000 Tamils from entering the mainstream of society and fully participating in its development and progress," as quoted by AsiaNews.

In May this year, Sri Lanka defeated the Liberation Tamil Tiger Eelam (LTTE), bringing an end to the 26-year-old civil war that was one of the world's deadliest armed conflicts.

It left some 70,000 dead and 265,000 Tamil civilians displaced.

Meanwhile, the situation in Sri Lanka has worsened with several human rights organizations denouncing the abuse and violence suffered by thousands languishing in relief camps.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), last week, called on World leaders to urge the Sri Lankan government to "immediately release more than 260,000 displaced persons illegally confined in detention camps."

"World leaders should support calls from the UN to restore full freedom of movement to these people, who already have suffered mightily from war and displacement," HRW said.

According to the UN, as of Sept. 15, Sri Lankan government was holding 264,583 internally displaced persons in detention camps and hospitals; while fewer than 12,000 have been released or returned home.