COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
COI Report March 2012 - UK Border Agency - Home Office
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SRI LANKA 7 MARCH <strong>2012</strong><br />
TAMILS<br />
18.06 Approximately 18 per cent of the population are ethnic Tamils (the combined total of<br />
Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils) (Jane‘s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country<br />
<strong>Report</strong>, Sri Lanka 301 , accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>. Jane‘s added that:<br />
―Although some of the main Tamil areas of the northeast were not covered by the<br />
estimated census of population conducted in 2001, there is evidence of a decline in the<br />
Sri Lankan Tamil population ratio in the country as a whole between 1981 and 2001.<br />
This is mainly due to the emigration of an estimated 800,000 Tamils from Sri Lanka to<br />
India and destinations in the West as political refugees since the intensification of the<br />
ethnic conflict in the mid-1980s. The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora forms the largest and<br />
most politically significant expatriate grouping outside the country. Many were driven<br />
from the country and have retained a strong sense of animosity towards Sri Lanka<br />
coupled with a willingness to support the cause of an independent state through<br />
financial donations to front organisations associated with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil<br />
Eelam (LTTE). The largest concentrations of Tamils are in India/Tamil Nadu (approx.<br />
200,000), Canada (150,000-200,000), followed by the United Kingdom (180,000),<br />
Germany (70,000), Australia (45,000), France (40,000) the United States (25,000) and<br />
Malaysia (25,000). Smaller communities also exist in South Africa, Italy, Norway,<br />
Denmark, Sweden and New Zealand.‖<br />
18.07 In Colombo district there were 247,739 Sri Lanka Tamils and 24,821 Indian Tamils out<br />
of a total population of 2,251,274 (figures from the 2001 census). The districts of<br />
Ampara, Gampaha, Kandy, Puttalam and Nuwara Eliya also had a high concentration of<br />
Tamils. However, data from Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi, Batticaloa<br />
and Trincomalee districts in which the 2001 census enumeration was not completed<br />
were not included. (Sri Lankan Department of Census and Statistics (Statistical Abstract<br />
2010, Chapter II, tables 2.10 - 2.11, accessed on 1 June 2011) 302<br />
18.08 A British High Commission (BHC) Colombo letter dated 9 November 2011 303 observed:<br />
―There are frequent comments made in conversation in Sri Lanka that, ‗There are more<br />
Tamils in Colombo than Sinhalese‘. Published statistics do not support this claim. In<br />
some small areas of Colombo there are indeed a much higher percentage of Tamils<br />
than Sinhalese, but equally there are areas which are considered almost entirely<br />
Muslim. In establishing the ethnicity breakdown, compilers often mix race and religion.<br />
Not all Sinhalese are Buddhists, not all Tamils are Hindus and there are many Muslims<br />
and Roman Catholics who are considered Tamil merely because that is the language<br />
they speak.<br />
―A former Chief Justice once told me [Second Secretary migration] that there were<br />
400,000 Tamils living in Colombo. Similarly, Mano Ganesan MP informed me that<br />
Colombo District has close to 300,000 Tamils living here as permanent residents and<br />
301 Jane’s Sentinel Country Risk Assessments, Country <strong>Report</strong>, Sri Lanka,<br />
http://sentinel.janes.com/docs/sentinel/SASS_country.jsp?Prod_Name=SASS&Sent_Country=Sri%20La<br />
nka& [subscription only] accessed on 3 February <strong>2012</strong>, Internal Affairs, 17 January <strong>2012</strong><br />
302 Sri Lanka Department for Census and Statistics, Statistical Abstract 2010 – Chapter II (Population),<br />
Table 2.10 http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-10.pdf and 2.11<br />
http://www.statistics.gov.lk/abstract2010/chapters/Chap2/AB2-11.pdf date accessed 1 June 2011<br />
303 British High Commission Colombo, Letter dated 9 November 2011<br />
124 The main text of this <strong>COI</strong> <strong>Report</strong> contains the most up to date publicly available information as at 3 February <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
Further brief information on recent events and reports has been provided in the Latest News section<br />
to 2 <strong>March</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.