Law or policy reform enabling automatic acquisition of nationality Tamils who remained in Sri Lanka. Although Sri Lanka disputed this claim, the last Hill Tamil to be repatriated to India left in 1984, whereupon India no longer considered any Hill Tamils in Sri Lanka as possessing Indian nationality. Law reform automatically granting Sri Lankan nationality to Hill Tamils STEPS IN THE 1980S: As many of the Hill Tamils remained stateless and had few options but to continue working on tea plantations, the Ceylon Worker’s Congress (CWC), an organization that is both a trade union and a political party, took up their cause. The CWC began advocating for legal reforms to resolve the Tamils’ statelessness, leading in the 1980s to the adoption of a series of laws to address the problem. A first step was achieved with the Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act, No. 5 of 1986 (1986 Act).4 The Act granted the right to acquire Sri Lankan citizenship through registration to two groups: those who should have acquired Sri Lankan citizenship pursuant to the bilateral agreements, but had not done so; and 94,000 persons who were originally to apply for Indian citizenship under the bilateral agreements, but had also failed to do so. Citizenship by registration could only be granted by the Minister to applicants who took an oath, which had to be registered, and to whom a certificate of registration confirming compliance with the procedure was given. The complexity of this process prevented many who were qualified to acquire citizenship from doing so. The 1986 Act was followed by the Grant of Citizenship to Certain Stateless Persons (Special Provisions) Act, No. 39 of 1988 (1988 Act).5 The 1988 Act granted automatic Sri Lankan citizenship (as opposed to citizenship by registration) to all stateless persons of Indian origin lawfully residing in Sri Lanka who were not covered by the 1986 Act. Pursuant to the 1988 Act, those qualifying for automatic Sri Lankan citizenship were to apply for and obtain a citizenship certificate from the Commissioner for the Registration of Persons of Indian Origin. 4 5 10 Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act, No. 5 of 1986 [Sri Lanka], 21 February 1987, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/ refworld/docid/3ae6b5081c.html Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons (Special Provisions) Act, No. 39 of 1988 [Sri Lanka], 11 November 1988, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3ae6b5084.html U N H C R > G P P A C T I O N 1 : R E S O LV I N G E X I S T I N G M A J O R S I T U AT I O N S O F S TAT E L E S S N E S S