Chapter 11: Learning from the Education Programs for Sri Lankan Refugee Students in India

Ethnic violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka has resulted in a large influx of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees to the state of Tamil Nadu in southern India since 1983. Presently, over 100,000 refugees are living in 113 refugee camps in different parts of the state and outside the camps on their own. This chapter first discusses India’s refugee assistance policy and then examines the education program being run by the Organization for Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OfERR) for the Sri Lankan refugees in light of this policy. The lessons that may be learned from the education program of OfERR have also been highlighted in this chapter.