The ban on international refugee agency UNHCR into refugee camps remains. The order says UNHCR has no specific role to play in Sri Lankan refugee issues. UNHCR was earlier allowed only screening of refugees to monitor the voluntary nature of repatriation to Sri Lanka. Under the second phase of repatriation which began in January 1992, 63,000 refugees were returned to the island. But in a new wave following the August 1996 Army operation Sath Jaya in Kilinochchi, over 8,000 Tamils fled to India.
There seems concern in India that allowing UNHCR into camps may lead to the government losing control over refugees and funds that may flow into the country, jeopardising security measures. Four Sri Lankan Tamils were arrested near Mandapam refugee camp in Rameswaram in late March. Police say one of them, Singaraj, was involved in LTTE smuggling operations to Jaffna. Two other Sri Lankans were detained in New Delhi on 31 March.
The order permitting NGOs into refugee camps coincides with the election of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India. There is concern in Colombo over the appointment of Samata Party leader George Fernandes as the new Indian Defence minister.
Mr Fernandes, an outspoken critic of the Sri Lankan government on the ethnic issue, allowed a conference in support of the Sri Lankan Tamils at his home in December, defying an Indian government ban. Sri Lankan Foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, who rushed to congratulate the new Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpai in late March, did not meet Mr Fernandes. Sources say BJP leader LK Advani, expressed his concern to Mr Kadirgamar over the deteriorating conditions of Tamil refugees in the Vanni.