On December 3, Ravikumar D, of DMK asked the Ministry of Home Affairs if they had any pla to grant citizenship to Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees who are living in India for more than 30 years. The Ministry, however, responded saying that, “Indian Citizenship can be acquired by any foreigner by registration under section 5 or by naturalization under section 6 of The Citizenship Act, 1955. However, an illegal migrant is not eligible to acquire citizenship by registration or naturalization.”
The latter part of this answer is set to change if the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) gets passed in the Parliament. The Bill seeks to grant citizenship to Non-Muslim refugees from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, if they have faced religious persecution. Sri Lankan Tamils also clear the ‘religious persecution’ filter but they do not feature in the inclusion list for grant of citizenship, even on communal lines.
Between 1983 and 1987 crossed the Palk Strait and entered India to run away from the civil war in Sri Lanka. Presently, more than 60,000 refugees stay in 109 camps in Tamil Nadu alone. Although Sri Lankan government eased repatriation of refugees, very few have gone back. Hardly 9,000 refugees have gone back to Sri Lanka and for good reason. They have been provided by the state government with relief measures, better livelihood opportunities which has led to improvement in their lifestyle and they are aware that back home, in Sri Lanka, they will not enjoy such opportunities.
Hence, voluntary repatriation is an option open for these refugees but neither governments are actively involved in prompting refugees to return. On the other hand, if these refugees do not wish to go back, they are likely to remain stateless in India as per provisions of the impending Citizenship Amendment Bill and NPR (National Population Register) exercise.