Sri Lanka: Information on the ratio of Christian Tamils to Hindu Tamils in Colombo and their treatment by police and the public on the basis of religion
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 July 1994 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | LKA17904.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Sri Lanka: Information on the ratio of Christian Tamils to Hindu Tamils in Colombo and their treatment by police and the public on the basis of religion, 1 July 1994, LKA17904.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab694c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Information on the ratio of Christian Tamils to Hindu Tamils in Colombo is unavailable to the DIRB in Ottawa. According to a representative of Information Monitor (Inform), a Colombo-based human rights organization, and a report issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in Ottawa, it is difficult to obtain data on Colombo's ethnic and religious make up (27 July 1994; 15 April 1994, 9).
The Inform representative stated that about 35 percent of Tamils outside of the Tamil north-east, live in the district of Colombo (27 July 1994). The representative estimated that there are fewer Christian Tamils than Hindu Tamils, who are the largest Tamil religious group in Sri Lanka (ibid.). The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade report mentions Amnesty International's 1992 estimate that some 350,000 Tamils live in Colombo, which has a total population of about two million.
Country Report 1993, which is available at your Regional Documentation Centre, mentions that Christians and Muslims have both been discriminated against by their fellow Sri Lankans as a result of their religious beliefs (1994, 1395). However, the same source notes that there is "no evidence of official persecution" in Sri Lanka (ibid.). The Inform representative mentioned that there is no open hostility among the various religious groups and, to her knowledge, there is no official discrimination against Sri Lankans on the basis of religious affiliation (27 July 1994).
For information on the origin of the state of inter-communal relations among the various religious communities and basic information on the religious composition of Sri Lanka, please refer to the attachments.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1993. 1994. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.
Canadian High Commission, Colombo. 15 April 1994. (Memo to director, International Migration, External Affairs and International Trade Canada).
Information Monitor (Inform), Colombo, Sri Lanka. 27 July 1994. Telephone interview with representative.
Attachments
Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1992. 3rd ed. Vol. 3. Edited by George Thomas Kurian. New York: Facts on File, p. 1778-79.
Canadian High Commission, Colombo. 15 April 1994. (Memo to director, International Migration, External Affairs and International Trade Canada).
Religion in Politics: A World Guide. Edited by Stuart Mews. Chicago: St. James Press, pp. 250-53.
Nyrop, Richard F. et al. 1982. Sri Lanka: A country Study. Washington, DC: Department of the Army, pp. 189-99.
Additional Sources Consulted
Amnesty International Report. Yearly.
Human Rights Watch World Report. Yearly.
On-line search.