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Holders of Indian passports that had expired after India’s 1982 declaration are
required to state their intention to voluntarily acquire Sri Lankan citizenship.
This is usually done by the head of household. A document stating that
intention must then be countersigned by the immigration authorities. Once
approved, all members of the household are granted citizenship.
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Those without documentation do not have to submit a written declaration,
although they are encouraged to sign a special declaration that, when
countersigned by government officials, will make it easier for them to acquire
identity documents.
Both procedures are free of charge and there is no deadline to apply. In
December 2003, UNHCR and the Ceylon Workers Congress organized a one‑day
workshop for over 500 volunteers who then worked at 50 mobile centres, scattered
through the tea‑plantation region, where stateless persons applied for citizenship.
The volunteers received training on the basic facts about statelessness, the various
relevant laws passed since 1948, and the new law and its eligibility criteria.
For 10 days in December 2003, staff at the mobile centres accepted applications for
citizenship. UNHCR financed the campaign and monitored the process to ensure that
applicants made informed and voluntary decisions. By the end of that month, some
190,000 heads of households had acquired Sri Lankan citizenship.
In July and August 2004, a second, smaller campaign was organized in the northeast
of the country. More than 2000 stateless persons applied for, and were granted,
citizenship. Since then, a small number of Up‑Country Tamils have successfully
applied for citizenship either through the government agent in their local district or
through the citizenship division of the Ministry of Public Security, Law and Order in
the capital, Colombo.
Who funds UNHCR’s activities?
UNHCR is one of the few UN agencies that depends almost entirely on voluntary
contributions to finance its operations. Around five per cent of UNHCR’s annual budget
comes from assessed contributions to the UN regular budget; the rest is contributed on
a voluntary basis by governments, individuals and the private sector.
At the beginning of 2013, there were 35.8 million persons of concern to UNHCR.
UNHCR’s budget for 2012 was US$ 4.3 billion, of which US$ 62 million was dedicated to
statelessness activities.
In 2012, UNHCR received 77 per cent of its funding from ten government donors. At
the same time, it received more than US$ 130 million from the private sector, primarily
in Europe, Australia, Japan, Qatar and the United States of America. Non-governmental
Organizations (NGOs) contribute to UNHCR’s annual budget by making public appeals
on behalf of UNHCR for some operations. In recent years, contributions from the
private sector and NGOs have increased as a result of a concerted effort to raise public
awareness via radio, television, the press and other media outlets.
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