Suspension of ferry service hits returning Lankan refugees

The number of Sri Lankan refugees returning home has fallen in the first quarter of 2012 compared to the previous year.

Latest UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) statistics show that some 408 individuals voluntarily returned to Sri Lanka with UNHCR's help during the first three months of this year, nearly a third less than the same period last year when 597 refugees returned.

"It is difficult to say exactly why the numbers are lower, but part of the reason could be the suspension since October last year of the Colombo-Tuticorin ferry service from India. Refugees told us they preferred returning by sea as they could bring more of their household goods home with them," said UNHCR's Representative in Sri Lanka Michael Zwack.

UNHCR stepped up its voluntary repatriation program at the start of 2011, to support an increasing number of individuals who were returning home. However refugee returns slowed down towards the latter part of the year. A total of 1,728 Sri Lankan refugees returned under UNHCR's facilitated voluntary repatriation program in 2011. Most refugees are returning from government-run camps in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Small numbers have also returned from Malaysia, Georgia, Hong Kong and the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia.

UNHCR provides refugees returning home with a standard reintegration grant as a first step towards helping them restart their lives. Each individual is also provided with a modest transport grant to help them arrange their own transportation back to their villages. Once at their destination in Sri Lanka, these returnees can approach one of UNHCR's six offices, covering the North and the East, and in Colombo to obtain a kit of basic household supplies.