Stateless at the Border: Tamil Migration and South Asia’s Sovereignty Crisis

The legacy of Tamil migration in South Asia, both voluntary and forced, remains a pivotal yet underexplored factor in the region’s contemporary ethno-religious tensions and border politics. This study examines how the colonial era indentured labour system and the mass displacement during the Sri Lankan Civil War shaped the cross-border Tamil identities and altered the socio-political landscape, particularly between India and Sri Lanka. The Tamil refugee crisis and the Eelam movement are analysed as crucial forces that contributed to domestic political shifts in India, centre-state tensions, and evolving regional diplomacy. Challenging the dominant security-centric framing of border infiltration, this paper reinterprets Tamil migration as a historical outcome of colonial disruptions, ethnic marginalisation, and contested notions of sovereignty. It also critiques the ongoing policy vacuum in India regarding Tamil refugees and the limited reintegration efforts in post-war Sri Lanka.