Woman in Sri Lankan Tamil refugee camp gets voter’s ID

TIRUCHY: A 38-year-old woman now living in the camp for Sri Lankan refugees in Tiruchy received her Election Photo Identity Card (EPIC) after she obtained Indian passport based on a direction by the Madras High Court.

Fleeing the ethnic strife in Lanka, Kannan and Santhi escaped and reached Ramanathapuram in 1985, and got married while they were lodged in Mandapam transit camp. The couple had a daughter, Nalini, who was born in 1986 and a son, Nandakumar, who was born two years later. After moving to several refugee camps across the State, they began residing in Chinnasalem camp in Kallakurichi in 1997.

In 2013, Nalini got married to Kirubakaran from Tiruchy refugee camp and began living there since then. In 2021, Nalini applied for passport but was rejected. She then moved the Madurai bench of the High Court, which directed the passport office to issue her a passport based on Sec 3 of the Citizenship Act, which allows a person born in India between January 26, 1950, and July 1, 1987, to be considered citizen by birth.

Based on the passport, she applied for voter’s ID and received it recently. “I am happy to receive the EPIC, which would boost the morale of the refugees waiting for Indian citizenship,” she said.