Subramanian Swamy, MP and senior BJP leader has sought the immediate intervention of Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister for External Affairs, to help the Sri Lankan refugees who are stranded in Tamil Nadu for the last four  months  because of non-availability of a ship to take them home.

In a letter addressed to Sushma Swaraj on Friday, Swamy said that during his last visit to Chennai, he was ‘apprised by the Sri Lankan refugees that they have been waiting for four months  for a ship to be provided  as promised to return  to their home country, Sri Lanka.’

“There appears to be some bureaucratic turf war on who can decide when to provide the ship required. Hope it will be possible for you to intervene annsure that a ship is provided to take a batch of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who have been waiting patiently for the last four months  back to their homes,” said Dr Swamy in the letter.

Though the Tamil chauvinist parties are in the forefront agitating for the rights of the Tamils in the island nation,  Dr Swamyis the first politician from Tamil Nadu to take up cudgels on behalf of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, pointed out Sri Lankan observers based in the State.

The Sri Lankan High Commissioner to India Austin Fernando, has been quoted as saying that there are 97,000 Sri Lankan refugees in India. The High Commissioner who was in Chennai recently along with a team of officials from Colombo  to find out the first- hand details pertaining to Tamil refugees had made it clear that Sri Lanka needed  the refugees and would take all steps to ensure their return to the home country .