Administrative inclusion without legal incorporation among Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in India

Abstract

This paper examines the conditions of prolonged displacement and legal ambiguity experienced by Sri Lankan Tamil refugees residing in the Puzhal camp in Chennai, India. Drawing on mixed-method data collected through household surveys (N = 30), semi-structured interviews, and field observations, the study analyses how administrative inclusion without substantive legal incorporation reproduces long-term precarity. Despite decades of residence in India, refugees continue to face significant barriers in accessing welfare schemes, formal employment, higher education, and political rights due to their ambiguous legal status. Quantitative patterns from KoboToolbox data, combined with qualitative narratives, reveal persistent challenges in documentation renewal, livelihood insecurity, and constrained future aspirations. The findings contribute to wider debates on statelessness, postcolonial citizenship and post-war Sri Lankan Tamil displacement by highlighting how administrative exclusion shapes everyday life. The study emphasises the need for rights-based policy reforms that address structural vulnerabilities rather than temporary relief-based mechanisms.