N. Leena, a young refugee living in a rehabilitation camp for Sri Lankan Tamils in Thoothukudi district, S. Dilakshana, another young refugee in Sivaganga, and Inbamalar, a middle-aged woman at a rehabilitation camp in Virudhunagar, have been feeling a renewed sense of hope. They were among those who benefited from the 772 new houses inaugurated by Chief Minister M. K. Stalin for camp refugees on October 7. At last, they have better shelter protecting them from the vagaries of nature. What makes them doubly happy is the gazette notification of the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), dated September 1, which had regularised the entry and stay of undocumented or overstaying Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who entered the country before January 9, 2015.

Both Ms. Leena and Ms. Dilakshana were born in Tamil Nadu — the former in Thoothukudi and the latter in Sivaganga — while Ms. Inbamalar migrated from Jaffna district in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka in 1990, when the civil war between Tamil rebels and the Sri Lankan security forces had resumed after a brief truce.

Tin sheets and thatched roof

“Initially, we refugees were put up in houses made of tin sheets [thatched roof houses, too, were provided]. Over a period of time, the houses improved,” says Ms. Inbamalar, who lives in Mallankinaru of Virudhunagar, thanking the present Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government for the way it has been enhancing the quality of life of the refugees. Skill development training and mental health awareness programmes are the latest initiatives being implemented for them.

The MHA releases funds to the State government for sharing the cost of relief and other measures.