New Delhi sources stated that country's High Commissioner to India Austin Fernando said Sri Lanka wants to take back all Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who are now in India. Meanwhile "With around 5,000 of these refugees having already returned, we now want to take the rest of them back to their original places," Fernando said while delivering a speech on "Post 2015: Reconciliation Milestones in Sri Lanka", which was organized by the Foreign Correspondents' Club.

Fernando said who took charge as the new Sri Lankan High Commissioner in November last year, there are around 100,000 of these refugees who had come to India during the civil war in the Indian Ocean island nation that ended in 2009. Furthermore he said that while some 20 to 30 per cent of these people would like to stay on in India, the rest would like to go back, adding that he would soon be going to south India to meet them.

The High Commissioner said "We will tell them that we will look after them and they need a roof over their head, they should be safe, their children should get education. Further they must also get employment after returning." Moreover stating that the Sri Lankan Deputy High Commissioner is in close touch with these people, he said that Colombo and New Delhi need to have a serious dialogue on this issue.