The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global
diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
of
Sri Lankan Tamil
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...
origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger
Sri Lankan and
Tamil diaspora
The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil immigrants who emigrated from their native lands (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Sri Lanka) to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Arab states of the Persian Gulf, ...
.
Like other diasporas, Sri Lankan Tamils are scattered and dispersed around the globe, with concentrations in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...
and
Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...
.
British colonial period
In foreign lands under British rule, the British needed obedient, trusted, hard-working and skillful people to take up government posts, mainly as
clerk
A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...
s. This led to the first wave of migrations by the Tamils to countries such as
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
(then
Malaya),
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
and the then
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
in India. Unlike the
Tamil diaspora from India, there was much less migration from Sri Lanka to British colonies.
Malaysia and Singapore
Ceylonese Tamils made up an overwhelming majority in the civil service of
British Malaya
The term "British Malaya" (; ms, Tanah Melayu British) loosely describes a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that were brought under British hegemony or control between the late 18th and the mid-20th century. ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
prior to independence. It was in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, that the term "Ceylonese" and "Jaffnese" were popularly used by the Sri Lankan Tamils to differentiate themselves from the larger
Malaysian Indian
Malaysian Indians or Indian Malaysians are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. Today, they form the third-largest group in Malaysia after the Malays and the Chinese. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India duri ...
and
Indian Singaporean
Indian Singaporeans (Tamil: ') are Singaporeans of Indian or South Asian ancestry, who constitute 9.0% of the country's citizens, making them the third largest ancestry and ethnic group in Singapore.
While contact with ancient India left a de ...
population who were predominantly of Tamil origin (but as of today, they are considered a sub-ethnicity of these races in the respective national censuses of their adoptive countries due to the similarities of religion, ethnicity, and language with the local ethnic Indian population of Tamil origin). The Malaysian Sri Lankan Tamil community is the fifth largest South Asian community in Malaysia, after
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
,
Malayali
The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomin ...
s,
Telugus
Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...
, and
Punjabis
The Punjabis (Punjabi: ; ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ; romanised as Panjābīs), are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group associated with the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of eastern Pakistan and northwestern India. ...
.
After the
Pangkor Treaty of 1874, the British embarked upon the construction of roads, railways, schools, hospitals, and government offices in the Malay Peninsula, to develop the country and to increase its revenue.
"It was to meet those early problems that
Malaya looked to its older sister
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
for help and probably, the then Governor of the Straits Settlements secured the despatch to
Perak
Perak () is a state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kelantan and Pahang to the east, and Selangor to the south. Thailand' ...
of the 2nd division of the Ceylon Pioneer Corp. "So it fell to the Ceylonese to survey the railways and to build and man them, to be apothecaries in the hospitals, to be technical assistance to qualified engineers and to staff the clerical services on which an expanding government was bound increasingly to depend.
In
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
, the Ceylon Tamil population was mainly concentrated in
Brickfields and
Sentul because of the proximity of the Administrative Centre of the
Malayan Railway
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) (Jawi: كريتاڤي تانه ملايو برحد) or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was firs ...
(opposite the railway station) and the Sentul Workshop. The Government provided accommodation for the white and the blue collar workers in these areas. The Ceylon Tamils living in both these areas were devout Saivites and as they fervently believed that "no one should live in a place that has no Temple ", they soon began to organize themselves into Associations. This gave birth to the
Sri Kandaswamy Kovil, Brickfields, which has become a landmark and tourist attraction in the city, showcasing Sri Lankan Tamil and Hindu architecture at its finest.
Many of the first Asian and non-white doctors and engineers in
Malaya and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
were of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. The world's first Asian
surgeon
In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...
was Dr. S.S. Thiruchelvam, a
Malayan of Ceylonese Tamil origin.
Former Singaporean Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
once said:
The Ceylonese community established many schools, banks, cultural societies, cooperatives and temples in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. Some good examples would be the
Jaffnese Cooperative Society, Vivekananda Ashrama and the
Vivekananda Tamil School in
Brickfields,
Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
. In 1958 The Malaysian Ceylonese Congress was established as a political party with the aim of giving support to the then Alliance party. MCC has continuously supported the Barisan Nasional and the Government. It was formed to promote and preserve the Political, Educational, Social and Cultural aspects of the Malaysian Ceylonese Community. To date, MCC has seen six President's:-
1. Mr. M.W Navaratnam AMN, JP (1958–1969)
2. Senator Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. C.Sinnadurai PSM, PSD, PNBS, DPMP, SMK (1970–1983)
3. Tan Sri Dato' Seri V.Jeyaratnam PSM, SPMP (1983–1988)
4. Dato' Dr. N.Arumugasamy DSIJ, JSM (1988–1995)
5. Dato' Seri Dr. D.M.Thuraiappah SPMP, AMN, ASA (1996–2003)
6. Dato' Dr. NKS Tharmaseelan DPTJ, PMC, ANS (2004–Present)
Today MCC makes its way in this ever-changing globe under the dynamic leadership of Dato' Dr. NKS Tharmaseelan. After 50years of hibernation, MCC has now become visible. The MCC was formally registered with the Malaysian Election's Commission (SPR) on 27 February 200
Many Ceylonese were also involved in the independence movements in
Malaya and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
. In Singapore, there are many current and past ministers who are of Ceylonese Tamil in origin and
Tamil language, Tamil is a national language.
Sinnathamby Rajaratnam was the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Singapore and regarded as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. His death in 2006 was marked with a state funeral by the government of Singapore. The Singapore flag was flown at half-mast at all public buildings and former Prime Minister and friend
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew (16 September 1923 – 23 March 2015), born Harry Lee Kuan Yew, often referred to by his initials LKY, was a Singaporean lawyer and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1959 and 1990, and Secretary-General o ...
cried when giving his eulogy.
Even today, the Sri Lankan community in Malaysia and Singapore is an upwardly mobile community taking up many professional and government posts. One of Malaysia's and South East Asia's richest men is
billionaire Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, who regularly makes it to ''
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
'' magazine's billionaire list.
Before 1983
During the period post-independence and prior to
Black July
Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...
1983, there was not much migration.
However, this changed as the government of Sri Lanka, which tended to be controlled by
Sinhalese
Sinhala may refer to:
* Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka
* Sinhalese people
* Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka
* Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language
** Sinha ...
started introducing policies, such as the
Sinhala Only Act
The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion ...
, which curtailed opportunities for Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Before 1956, Tamils were proportionately over-represented in the civil service because of their high achievement and perceived preferential treatment by the Colonial Rulers. Until 1956, this was their passport to government employment. As Cheran (2000: 110) argues, "
e class dimension of the Sinhala Only Act must not be forgotten. The battle of the languages was in reality a battle for government jobs." Unemployment among
he majoritySinhala youth generated considerable political pressure for the government to act in a manner that ironically consolidated identity based on nation, despite the economic antecedents to such identity formation.
Although the Sinhala Only Act was partially repealed in 1959, it did not stop Tamils leaving Sri Lanka searching for better employment opportunities.
After 1983
The eruption of the
Sri Lankan Civil War, civil conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sri Lankan government and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
saw mass migration of Tamils to escape the hardships and bitter life of a country torn at war. (See also
Black July
Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...
.)
Initially, it was professionals such as doctors and engineers who emigrated. This was followed by the poorer segments of the community who sold everything they had to be able to get a passport and ticket and seek asylum in foreign lands. The bitter ethnic fighting in
Sri Lanka had driven over 800,000
Sri Lankan Tamils from their homeland, forcing them to find refuge around the globe.
Demographics
The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils immigrated to western countries in the troubled period following the start of the Civil War, mainly towards countries in Western Europe and the Commonwealth Realms. These people were either entered mainly on family reunion visas, student visas (i.e. UK), or asylum seeking visas.
The first generation were more middle class in the Anglophone countries due to the English-speaking educated class of Sri Lanka being able to educate themselves into English-language high-ranking jobs, while the second generation throughout the western world have progressive social mobility.
The community is made up of prominent politicians, celebrities, activists, scholars, among other people, but lacks strong impact due to its small size.
Americas
The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils in this region reside in North America. the
Greater Toronto Area has the highest population of Sri Lankan Tamils but smaller populations can be found in the urban areas of Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.
Canada
Canada has the largest population of Sri Lankan Tamils outside of South Asia. An approximate 150,000 people identified as "Tamil" according to the most recent census of both Statistics Canada and the OECD (dated 2011).
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has the largest concentration of Sri Lankans (mainly Tamils) in Canada. Canadians of
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
ethnic origins mostly from
Sri Lanka and other countries such as
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
,
Guyana,
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
and
Fiji. From a population of fewer than 2,000 Tamils in 1983, it has become an important minority population groups within the GTA. More than 25,000 were added between 1984 and 1992; in the 1991 census, Tamils were the fastest-growing ethnic group in
Metropolitan Toronto
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto was an upper-tier level of municipal government in Ontario, Canada, from 1953 to 1998. It was made up of the old city of Toronto and numerous townships, towns and villages that surrounded Toronto, whic ...
.
The Tamils of Toronto and the rest of Canada are well versed and many own businesses, such as stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and even other franchise restaurants. They also tend to be highly educated and many work as real estate agents, lawyers, doctors and bankers. The Tamil peoples biggest population consists of the younger Tamil generations of the ages of 14 to 28, with most of them being students.
United States
Sri Lankan Tamils are predominantly found in the
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
of
Staten Island and
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, as well as in
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and on
Long Island in the
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the Tri-State area, is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at , and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The vast metropolitan area ...
. It was historically home to a number of middle class Sri Lankans, but these people were joined by people fleeing from Sri Lanka after the onset of the Civil War. Around 3/4 of the community are foreign-born.
Sri Lankan Americans are highly educated and most have advanced into higher education. The average educational attainment rate for American Sri Lankans exceeds that of the average rate for Asian Americans overall. Around 60% had at least a bachelor's degree and the community had the second highest income of any Asian ethnicity (after Asian Indian).
Europe
The spread of immigration into Europe has not been concentrated to one particular country but rather encompassing all of Western Europe. The largest populations can be found in the United Kingdom and France, with it being entirely feasible that there are more who speak German as a first language (Germany and Switzerland) than English as a first language (UK and Ireland).
United Kingdom and Ireland
The British Isles has always had a strong, albeit small, population of Sri Lankan Tamils deriving from colonial era immigration between Sri Lanka and the UK, but a surge in emigration from Sri Lanka took place after 1983, as the civil war caused living conditions deteriorate and placed many inhabitants in danger. It is now estimated that the current population of British Sri Lankan Tamils numbers around 100,000 to 200,000.
They are found throughout the country, but are much more concentrated in the South East, with the largest population of British Sri Lankan Tamils found in London, chiefly in Harrow (West London), Redbridge (East London), and Tooting (South London). The community generally has lower birth rates in comparison to other South Asian ethnic groups.
Unlike immigrants to countries in Continental Europe, many Sri Lankan Tamils that went to live in Anglosaxon countries achieved entry through non-refugee methods such as educational visas and family reunion visas in addition to as refugees. Many of the children of the first generation are also more upwardly mobile compared to their parents. Many of the second generation are middle class, and English is considered by many young Tamils as their first language. Many of the second generation identified themselves as Hindu but may not actively participate in the faith, while the Christian Tamils are more active.
France
There are over 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in France, joining an existing large population of Tamils from the French overseas departments.
In only 10 years, "Little Jaffna", located at the last stretch of the winding street of
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Denis
The Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis is a street in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. It crosses the arrondissement from north to south, linking the Porte Saint-Denis to La Chapelle Métro station and passing the Gare du Nord.
History
The Rue du Fa ...
in the
10th arrondissement, between
metros Gare du Nord and
La Chapelle, has sprung to life and begun to truly flourish. It is commonly mistakenly called by the average Parisian as Little Bombay
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Asylum_may_refer_to:
__Types_of_asylum_
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*__Benevolent_Asylum,_a_19th-century_Australian_institution_for_housing_the_destitute
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_to_Tamils._In_1987,_the_Office_for_the_Protection_of_Refugees_(OFPRA)_gained_in_power_and_opened_up_a_period_of_nearly_systematic_asylum._This_liberal_period_eventually_tapered_off_in_the_90s_as_a_result_of_new_European_measures_designed_against_an_influx_in_immigration._Today,_there_are_about_100,000_Sri_Lankan_Tamils_living_in_France,_of_which_the_greatest_number_live_in_Paris._Little_Jaffna_is_also_famous_for_the_annual_Temple_car.html" ;"title="Right_of_Asylum#Right_of_Asylum_in_France.html" "title="/nowiki>.html" ;"title="">
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The vast majority of Parisian Tamils fled Sri Lanka as refugees in the 1980s, escaping the violent civil conflict. The French Prefecture was initially quite reluctant about granting Right of Asylum#Right of Asylum in France">asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
...
to Tamils. In 1987, the Office for the Protection of Refugees (OFPRA) gained in power and opened up a period of nearly systematic asylum. This liberal period eventually tapered off in the 90s as a result of new European measures designed against an influx in immigration. Today, there are about 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in France, of which the greatest number live in Paris. Little Jaffna is also famous for the annual Temple car">chariot procession held during Ganesha Chathurthi. Both the area and event have become popular tourist attractions.
Italy
Italy is home to roughly 25,000 to 35,000 Tamils, most of whom are migrants and refugees from Sri Lanka, as well as significant Tamil populations from
.
The largest center of Tamils in Italy is the Sicilian capital of Palermo, where Sri Lankan Tamils number around 6,000 and are the second largest immigrant group in Palermo after Bangladeshis in Italy, Bangladeshis. Other Italian cities with a significant Sri Lankan Tamil community are
.
The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils in this region are descended from asylum seekers flees in the Civil War.
The majority of the first generation had to learn the local language in order to be able to obtain jobs and suffered from poor employment prospects as a result, but the second generation has been more successful in picking up the local language (predominantly German) and educating their way into middle class jobs such as finance.
Religious fervor among
intensified as their numbers swelled. Due to the inspirational encouragement of Hawaii Subramaniaswami – the disciple of
gal – two well organized Hindu temples – Sidhivinayagar Kovil and the kamadchi Amman Kovil –have in place in the city of
since 1984. According to the journal
, the youth are being well trained in their religion and culture at home and in weekend schools in rented halls using texts from Sri Lanka. They even wear Hindu symbols of Vibuthi and Tilakam.
Switzerland has about 50,000 Tamils, the majority of whom are from Sri Lanka who have gone as refugees. Temples, cultural festivals, international conferences, seminars and meetings draw a large number of the Tamil Diaspora from other European countries to the various Swiss cities, so much so that it has become the nerve centre of Tamil cultural activism. Tamil language classes, dance and music classes run by voluntary bodies are fast increasing. A large community established in Zurich with a place known as little Jaffna. Kanton Basel, Bern. Geneva. Most of the Tamils reside in the German speaking areas of Switzerland.
has more than 20,000 Tamils, the majority of whom are refugees from Sri Lanka.
Norway has about 13,000 Tamils, most of whom are Sri Lankan refugees. Around 7,000 live in the capital Oslo.
Sweden has a Sri Lankan Tamil population of approximately 6,000. The Sri Vinayagar temple was opened near
by Tamil Hindus in 2000.