Tamil Nadu seeks legal advice to grant asylum to Sri Lankans

The Tamil Nadu government has approached legal experts to provide refugee status to the Sri Lankan nationals who have reached the state in the wake of the ongoing economic crisis in the island nation.

Tamil Nadu has accommodated all the refugees at the Mandapam refugee camp but the accommodation is temporary as the state would have to get a green signal from the Central to provide full-scale refugee status to those who reach Indian shores. Sources in the Tamil Nadu government told IANS that it has used the services of some senior lawyers in New Delhi over granting of the refugee status.

Presently the Tamil Nadu government consider those who arrive from Sri Lanka as illegal migrants but provide them with food and lodging and is awaiting a green signal from the Centre to provide them refugee status.

The legal experts engaged by the Tamil Nadu government are providing the necessary legal support for providing refugee status to these people. A senior official with the Tamil Nadu government told IANS: “The state government is keen that all of them are provided refugee status and is awaiting clearance from the Central government.