...But the exodus continues

They are the ones who fear peace's collateral damage, and packed in unsteady boats, continue to ride the waves into India. Richer ones bribe their way through and just take a flight out of Colombo. For many, the island will always remind them of poverty and persecution - war or no war...
Indian authorities monitoring Tamil Nadu's refugee camps for Lankan Tamils may be pleased at the first real indication of reverse migration.But even though peace on the island is prodding many to return home, trouble keeps coming in boatloads from the seas. If one thought the voluntary return of the exiles signified the dawn of normalcy after decades of conflict, here is a chastening bit of fact. As many as 5,505 Lankan Tamils have taken up residence in Tamil Nadu in 2009 alone, registering themselves as refugees but living outside camps. Statistics, which are available with the Commissionerate of Rehabilitation in Chennai, also say that in addition to this, 1,154 have sought refuge in camps, accounting for a total of 6,659 new arrivals in the year so far.
Most of those who arrive by boat are fishermen, farmers or labourers from the northern and eastern provinces entering India without travel papers. Those with the means prefer to fly out on a tourist visa. Enquiries reveal that the standard practice of those arriving by air from Colombo is to report at the State Directorate of Rehabilitation in Chennai seeking permission to reside as refugees. They can choose to stay on their own, with relatives or at one of the 115 camps scattered across Tamil Nadu. Families and individuals wishing to stay in camps are first sent to Mandapam near Rameswaram for registration and then allocated camps.
While many of those who arrived this year are not ready to discuss the circumstances in which they left the island, officials who interact with them say the refugees are mostly former inmates of the military-controlled camps for internally displaced people (IDP). Some have talked about bribing their way out of the camps in Vavuniya. There are nearly 2.5 lakh Tamils in Sri Lankan camps awaiting rehabilitation. Mahinda Rajapaksa government claims to have resettled 41,000. The administration is under pressure to resettle all of them before the monsoon intensifies, but the government says full-scale rehabilitation hinges on the de-mining of all areas formerly under control of militants and the screening of inmates for possible LTTE links.
"It is still very difficult for Tamils who have somehow managed to leave the camps to lead a life of peace and dignity in Sri Lanka,'' said a refugee who didn't want to be named. "There are random inquiries by the police which can land one in trouble at the drop of a hat. I left a camp on medical grounds in July and did not go back. I then came to India. But now that resettlement is slowly picking up back home, it will soon be unnecessary for camp residents to spend so much money, sometimes as much as Rs 1 lakh per head, trying to get out."
All Tamils who used to live in LTTE-controlled areas during the war years have now been herded into these camps and nobody is allowed to leave the premises. As their hometowns are under military control, they cannot return and have no choice but to head for Colombo or other Sinhalese-majority areas. There it is not possible for anyone to evade questioning by the police and army, always a dicey situation to be in. Sri Lanka is a country of hundreds of military checkpoints and frequent cordon-and-search operations that are coupled with raids in hotels, lodges and residences in Tamil localities. The one big fear is that the interrogation would reveal they have escaped from the camps, which can be deemed an offence. As they cannot legally stay in Colombo, they take the help of travel agents to get tourist visas to India and seek refugee status. For the wealthy, there is another concern: being targeted by extortionists. This lot usually uses India as a platform to get visas and move on to other countries, especially Europe and America.