Borders Without Belonging

India’s refugee policy leaves 90,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Tamil Nadu stateless, denied long-term visas and pathways to dignity, even as other migrant communities gain rights

- DIPANKAR DEY THE WRITER |S. A PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION WHO PRIMARILY WRITES ON POLITICAL ECONOMY, GLOBAL TRADE, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

India cannot claim to champion justice for Tamils abroad while ignoring stateless Tamils at home

On September 2, 2025, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) removed the tag ofan “legal migrant” from registered Sri Lankan Tamil nationals who entered India before January 9, 2015. But they are not eligible to apply for long-term visas (LTV). LT'Vs—a precursor to citizenship are issued for a period of one to five years. The September 2 notification also exempted undocumented members of six minority communities (Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians — from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan) from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan from penal provisions and possible deportation if they entered

India without passports or visas, or with expired travel documents, before December 31, 2024. While the six communities will be able to apply for LTVs, making them eligible to apply for citizenship after at least 11 years of continuous stay in India, Sri Lankan Tamils will not be eligible for the same.

‘According to the MHAs annual report of 2023-24, a total of 304,269 Sri Lankan refugees entered India in various phases between July 1983 and August 2012. The annual report claimed that 99,469 refugees were repatriated to Sri Lanka up to March 1995, and there has been no organised repatriation since then. However, some refugees had gone back to Sri Lanka or left for other countries on their own. As of June 1, 2024, 90,603 Sri Lankan refugees were living in 105 camps and elsewhere in Tamil Nadu, and 19 refugees were living in Odisha.