Question : Sri Lankan Citizenship to Tamils

(a) whether the Union Government is aware of the fact that under the two Indo-Lanka Agreements of 1964 and 1974 about 6 lakh persons were to be repatriated to India and 3.75 lakh Tamils were to be granted citizenship by Sri Lanka;

(b) if so, the details of the number of persons (along with their natural increase) repatriated to India and number of persons (along with their natural increase) granted citizenship by Sri Lankan Government till date; and

(c) the remedial measures taken by the Government to ensure safety of the following four categories of Tamils in Sri Lanka and in India at present:

(i) the Indian passport holders who had not yet been repatriated, (ii) persons who had applied for Indian citizenship but whose cases had not been finally disposed off, (iii) stateless persons who had not applied for Indian citizenship or those not yet conferred Sri Lankan citizenship and (iv) Sri Lankan Tamil citizens?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
[SHRI V. MURALEEDHARAN]

(a) & (b) Yes. As per available information, a total number of 4,61,639 Tamils were repatriated to India from Sri Lanka under the Agreements on Persons of Indian Origin of 1964 and 1974 signed between India and Sri Lanka. Further, Sri Lanka granted citizenship to 7,40,985 Indian Origin Tamils and their natural increase through ''Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement (Implementation) Act No. 14 of 1967''; ''Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act No. 39 of 1988 and ''Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act No. 35 of 2003’.


(c) As part of its development cooperation with Sri Lanka, Government of India has been assisting in the implementation of a number of projects in that country, many of which are directly aimed at welfare of the Tamil Community in Sri Lanka including in the fields of housing, education, vocational training, health, and community development initiatives.

All Indian passport holders are provided with relevant consular services, depending on requirements. Any safety and security concerns of Indian passport holders are suitably and expeditiously addressed.

The grant of Indian Citizenship is governed by provisions of The Citizenship Act 1955 and The Citizenship Rules 2009. Indian Citizenship can be acquired by a foreigner by registration under Section 5 or by naturalization under Section 6 of the Citizenship Act 1955.

****