Forty Lankan refugees return home

Forty Sri Lankan refugees, some of whom have been living in Tamil Nadu since the early '90s, returned to Sri Lanka on Tuesday morning, the Times of India reported.

The voluntary repatriation of these refugees from camps in Cheyyar, Puzhal, Gummudipoondi, Uchapatti, Mandapam, Thirumoorthy Nagar and other parts of Tamil Nadu is supported by Germany, along with the United Nations High Commi-ssioner for Refugees. UNHCR spokesperson Shuchita Mehta told TOI that the refugees, inclu-ding 17 women, left from Chennai, Trichy and Mad-urai, as sche-duled.

"They flew out to various parts of Lanka like Vavuniya, Trinco-malee, Mannar, Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Kilinochchi," she said. tnn
Many of them fled the war-torn Sri Lanka in the 90s and have been living in camps, taking up contract jobs and sending their children to local schools.

At a pre-departure orientation session at the UNHCR office in Chennai last week, representatives of families who were returning told TOI that they were looking forward to returning home as many are unable to get steady jobs here.

The UNHCR's two-year reintegration programme for Sri Lankan repatriates includes financial assistance for travel and local transport, a reintegration grant and assistance to apply for important documents. In 2015, the UNHCR helped repatriate 452 refugees, the spokesperson said.

According to activist S C Chandrahasan, founder of the Organisation for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation, there are one lakh Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka in Tamil Nadu, with more than 65,000 of them living in camps in 24 districts.