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20/06/24 11:01 AM IST

World Refugee Day

In News
  • Today, the world has over 43.4 million refugees, and with conflicts raging in different parts of the world, this number is only increasing. 
UN Refugee Convention
  • Despite our glorious history of affording solace and shelter to refugees from the world over, it is ironic that India is neither a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention (which outlines the rights of asylum seekers and refugees, alongside the obligations of host states) nor to its 1967 Protocol.
  • Nor does our country have a domestic asylum framework. Whereas, with our history, we ought to lead the global march on the question of refugee rights, our present actions and lack of a legal framework does our heritage no credit, shames us in the eyes of the world, and fails to match up to our stellar past track record. 
Recent Judgements
  • In 1996, the Supreme Court of India held that not just Indians but everybody living in India, irrespective of nationality, enjoys the inviolable rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 20 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
  • On these grounds, the apex court, in the landmark case of National Human Rights Commission vs State Of Arunachal Pradesh & Anr., stopped the forcible eviction of Chakma refugees who had entered Arunachal Pradesh in 1995.
  • The Court held that an application for asylum must be properly processed, and till a decision is made whether to grant or refuse asylum, the state cannot forcibly evict an asylum seeker.
  • Our judiciary, therefore, has already pointed us towards the golden path: now we must scrupulously tread it. Yet, at times, different judges have taken radically different approaches, which we saw aplenty in the Rohingya case.
  • The enactment and enumeration of refugee rights will reduce our reliance on judge-centric approaches — or, even worse, the whims of Home Ministry bureaucrats, police officers and politicians. 
Sri Lankan Tamils
  • Since 1983, 3,34,797 Sri Lankan Tamils have sought refuge in Tamil Nadu.
  • They came in four phases that coincided with the escalation of conflict in Sri Lanka since 1983: 1,34,054 from 1983-87; 1,22,000 from 1989-90; 54,188 from 1995-2002, and 24,556 from 2005-24.
  • Currently, as of January 1, 2024, there are 57,975 refugees living in 105 government-run camps in Tamil Nadu and an estimated 40,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living outside the camps in Tamil Nadu with police registration (data compiled by the Organization for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR) from sources such as the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation, the UNHCR and the OfERR database). 
  •  In terms of education, the refugees have access to government schools, and receive the additional benefit of ₹1,000 a month if they progress to higher education.
  • There are also specific one-time education support programmes that are available to refugees — arts and science college students get ₹12,000 and students of engineering courses get ₹50,000. Most recently, the Government of Tamil Nadu has handed over brand new homes to about 5,000 Sri Lankan Tamils.
  • A costing study that was completed in end-2023 documented that the government spent about ₹262 crore on refugees (₹170 crore directly and ₹92 crore indirectly) annually. 
Welfare Schemes
  • The welfare schemes form a large part of the protection of the Sri Lankan Tamils to restore their dignity and empower them to build a sustainable future.
  • This has resulted in 100% enrolment in schools and over 4,500 graduates from the camps.
  • They have been able to break free of their caste barriers as they fall under the Refugee category.
  • This has ended up in people not knowing their caste is treated as no longer necessary. 
  • Since the end of the war in Sri Lanka in 2009, a total of 16,641 refugees have returned to Sri Lanka according to the OfERR database and the UNHCR.
  • While the momentum to return was picking up at a steady pace, the COVID-19 pandemic, and thereafter the economic crisis in Sri Lanka, paused and later slowed down the process. 
Indian Laws
  • Currently, Indian laws are unable to permit local integration by granting citizenship to the refugees from Sri Lanka.
  • The option of third country resettlement also remains very slim.
  • Also, other international crises have taken priority.
  • Given this context, Sri Lankan Tamils continue to live in uncertainty about their future, dealing with day-to-day challenges. 
  • The story of the Sri Lankan refugee living in the welfare centres of Tamil Nadu is one of a refugee-care model that is to be emulated.
  • The concern of the Government of Tamil Nadu and the Government of India towards the Sri Lankan Tamils living in the welfare centres has resulted in a transformation — of hapless refugees turning into resource persons who could potentially contribute to the rebuilding of the nation when they return.
  • They will also form the most important skilled human resource that is ready to take up any challenge as it arises. 
Source- The Hindu

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