Better Must Come or beyond the estate coupled with an absent sense of equality. To be sure, only a minority of those consulted conveyed such sentiment, but because it is said that ‘stateless people want nothing more than to come in from the cold — to belong’, 131 any indication that some among the previously stateless have yet to come in from the cold warrants attention. With respect to healthcare, two interviewees were unable to speak of their experience using the healthcare system because they had never attempted to use these services. As for employment, five of the 17 interviewees who reported that access and entitlement had not improved had chosen not to pursue employment opportunities outside the estate, again suggesting the presence of a self-imposed sense that one is not entitled to life beyond the estate. Added to this are nine interviewees who indicated that informal employment beyond the estate was indeed available but elected not to pursue such opportunities. Further, among the 14 interviewees who indicated that their ability to participate in the political process had not improved in the post-2003 era, seven had simply chosen not to participate. While these findings are in no way representative of the majority of those consulted, they are underpinned by the 44 survey respondents and 19 interviewees who do not perceive equality with the majority population to have been achieved, not to mention the two interviewees who were unable to comment because they had no experience of life outside the estate. Thus, whether it is the four who have expressly stated that they have no place outside the estate or the limited few who have elected not to involve themselves with matters beyond the estate, the boundaries of the estate seem to delimit the choices and opportunities of a significant few. An analysis of the above findings also brings another finding into focus: the acquisition of citizenship as non-beneficial in these early stages. Of the 100 respondents surveyed, 49 view the acquisition of citizenship as bringing with it no substantive benefit beyond the legal identity before the state it provides. When this number is coupled with the 19 of 30 interviewees who share this view, 52.3 per cent of all those consulted deem the acquisition of citizenship to be non-beneficial. This finding does appear to conflict with the general improvement in access and entitlement to healthcare, education and employment reported elsewhere, though such conflict is not reason enough to overlook or dismiss how people qualify their experience of citizenship. This finding does not mean that the acquisition of citizenship was held to be detrimental, for no one who viewed it as being nonbeneficial suggested this. Rather, it challenges the notion that statelessness ‘can be resolved in a single moment’, 132 and establishes that declarations of Sri Lanka’s success in ending statelessness were made in haste. A 1 Discussion The Rural Rights Deficit The rural rights deficit outlined above is underpinned by three interconnected variables that operate to reinforce one another: poverty; the physical isolation that comes with residing in enclave-like plantations which either precludes the regular presence of Up-Country Tamils from public spaces beyond the estate or intercourse with the majority population; and political alienation. Among 131 UNHCR Special Report (n 3) 16. 132 ibid 20. 29