Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora

The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan and Tamil diaspora.

Like other diasporas, Sri Lankan Tamils are scattered and dispersed around the globe, with concentrations in South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Europe, Australia, United States, Malaysia, Singapore, Seychelles and Mauritius.

British colonial period

In foreign lands under British rule, the British needed obedient, trusted, hard-working and skillful people to take up government posts, mainly as clerks. This led to the first wave of migrations by the Tamils to countries such as Malaysia (then Malaya), Singapore and the then Madras Presidency in India. Unlike the Tamil diaspora from India, there was much less migration from Sri Lanka to British colonies.

Malaysia and Singapore

Ceylonese Tamils made up an overwhelming majority in the civil service of British Malaya and Singapore prior to independence. It was in Malaysia and Singapore, that the term "Ceylonese" and "Jaffnese" were popularly used by the Sri Lankan Tamils to differentiate themselves from the larger Malaysian Indian and Indian Singaporean population who were predominantly of Tamil origin (but as of today, they are considered a sub-ethnicity of these races in the respective national censuses of their adoptive countries due to the similarities of religion, ethnicity, and language with the local ethnic Indian population of Tamil origin). The Malaysian Sri Lankan Tamil community is the fifth largest South Asian community in Malaysia, after Tamils, Malayalis, Telugus, and Punjabis.

After the Pangkor Treaty of 1874, the British embarked upon the construction of roads, railways, schools, hospitals, and government offices in the Malay Peninsula, to develop the country and to increase its revenue.

"It was to meet those early problems that Malaya looked to its older sister Ceylon for help and probably, the then Governor of the Straits Settlements secured the despatch to Perak of the 2nd division of the Ceylon Pioneer Corp. "So it fell to the Ceylonese to survey the railways and to build and man them, to be apothecaries in the hospitals, to be technical assistance to qualified engineers and to staff the clerical services on which an expanding government was bound increasingly to depend.

In Kuala Lumpur, the Ceylon Tamil population was mainly concentrated in Brickfields and Sentul because of the proximity of the Administrative Centre of the Malayan Railway (opposite the railway station) and the Sentul Workshop. The Government provided accommodation for the white and the blue collar workers in these areas. The Ceylon Tamils living in both these areas were devout Saivites and as they fervently believed that "no one should live in a place that has no Temple ", they soon began to organize themselves into Associations. This gave birth to the Sri Kandaswamy Kovil, Brickfields, which has become a landmark and tourist attraction in the city, showcasing Sri Lankan Tamil and Hindu architecture at its finest.

Many of the first Asian and non-white doctors and engineers in Malaya and Singapore were of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. The world's first Asian surgeon was Dr. S.S. Thiruchelvam, a Malayan of Ceylonese Tamil origin.

Former Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew once said:

The Ceylonese community established many schools, banks, cultural societies, cooperatives and temples in Malaysia and Singapore. Some good examples would be the Jaffnese Cooperative Society, Vivekananda Ashrama and the Vivekananda Tamil School in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur. In 1958 The Malaysian Ceylonese Congress was established as a political party with the aim of giving support to the then Alliance party. MCC has continuously supported the Barisan Nasional and the Government. It was formed to promote and preserve the Political, Educational, Social and Cultural aspects of the Malaysian Ceylonese Community. To date, MCC has seen six President's:-
1. Mr. M.W Navaratnam AMN, JP (1958–1969)
2. Senator Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr. C.Sinnadurai PSM, PSD, PNBS, DPMP, SMK (1970–1983)
3. Tan Sri Dato' Seri V.Jeyaratnam PSM, SPMP (1983–1988)
4. Dato' Dr. N.Arumugasamy DSIJ, JSM (1988–1995)
5. Dato' Seri Dr. D.M.Thuraiappah SPMP, AMN, ASA (1996–2003)
6. Dato' Dr. NKS Tharmaseelan DPTJ, PMC, ANS (2004–Present)
Today MCC makes its way in this ever-changing globe under the dynamic leadership of Dato' Dr. NKS Tharmaseelan. After 50years of hibernation, MCC has now become visible. The MCC was formally registered with the Malaysian Election's Commission (SPR) on 27 February 200



Many Ceylonese were also involved in the independence movements in Malaya and Singapore. In Singapore, there are many current and past ministers who are of Ceylonese Tamil in origin and Tamil language, Tamil is a national language. Sinnathamby Rajaratnam was the former foreign minister and deputy prime minister of Singapore and regarded as one of the founding fathers of Singapore. His death in 2006 was marked with a state funeral by the government of Singapore. The Singapore flag was flown at half-mast at all public buildings and former Prime Minister and friend Lee Kuan Yew cried when giving his eulogy.

Even today, the Sri Lankan community in Malaysia and Singapore is an upwardly mobile community taking up many professional and government posts. One of Malaysia's and South East Asia's richest men is billionaire Tan Sri Ananda Krishnan, who regularly makes it to ''Forbes'' magazine's billionaire list.

Before 1983

During the period post-independence and prior to Black July 1983, there was not much migration.

However, this changed as the government of Sri Lanka, which tended to be controlled by Sinhalese started introducing policies, such as the Sinhala Only Act, which curtailed opportunities for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Before 1956, Tamils were proportionately over-represented in the civil service because of their high achievement and perceived preferential treatment by the Colonial Rulers. Until 1956, this was their passport to government employment. As Cheran (2000: 110) argues, " e class dimension of the Sinhala Only Act must not be forgotten. The battle of the languages was in reality a battle for government jobs." Unemployment among he majoritySinhala youth generated considerable political pressure for the government to act in a manner that ironically consolidated identity based on nation, despite the economic antecedents to such identity formation.

Although the Sinhala Only Act was partially repealed in 1959, it did not stop Tamils leaving Sri Lanka searching for better employment opportunities.

After 1983

The eruption of the Sri Lankan Civil War, civil conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam saw mass migration of Tamils to escape the hardships and bitter life of a country torn at war. (See also Black July.)

Initially, it was professionals such as doctors and engineers who emigrated. This was followed by the poorer segments of the community who sold everything they had to be able to get a passport and ticket and seek asylum in foreign lands. The bitter ethnic fighting in Sri Lanka had driven over 800,000 Sri Lankan Tamils from their homeland, forcing them to find refuge around the globe.

Demographics

The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils immigrated to western countries in the troubled period following the start of the Civil War, mainly towards countries in Western Europe and the Commonwealth Realms. These people were either entered mainly on family reunion visas, student visas (i.e. UK), or asylum seeking visas.

The first generation were more middle class in the Anglophone countries due to the English-speaking educated class of Sri Lanka being able to educate themselves into English-language high-ranking jobs, while the second generation throughout the western world have progressive social mobility.

The community is made up of prominent politicians, celebrities, activists, scholars, among other people, but lacks strong impact due to its small size.

Americas

The majority of Sri Lankan Tamils in this region reside in North America. the Greater Toronto Area has the highest population of Sri Lankan Tamils but smaller populations can be found in the urban areas of Montreal, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Canada

Canada has the largest population of Sri Lankan Tamils outside of South Asia. An approximate 150,000 people identified as "Tamil" according to the most recent census of both Statistics Canada and the OECD (dated 2011).

The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) has the largest concentration of Sri Lankans (mainly Tamils) in Canada. Canadians of Tamil ethnic origins mostly from Sri Lanka and other countries such as India, Malaysia, South Africa, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Fiji. From a population of fewer than 2,000 Tamils in 1983, it has become an important minority population groups within the GTA. More than 25,000 were added between 1984 and 1992; in the 1991 census, Tamils were the fastest-growing ethnic group in Metropolitan Toronto.

The Tamils of Toronto and the rest of Canada are well versed and many own businesses, such as stores, supermarkets, restaurants, and even other franchise restaurants. They also tend to be highly educated and many work as real estate agents, lawyers, doctors and bankers. The Tamil peoples biggest population consists of the younger Tamil generations of the ages of 14 to 28, with most of them being students.

United States

Sri Lankan Tamils are predominantly found in the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Queens, as well as in New Jersey and on Long Island in the New York metropolitan area. It was historically home to a number of middle class Sri Lankans, but these people were joined by people fleeing from Sri Lanka after the onset of the Civil War. Around 3/4 of the community are foreign-born.

Sri Lankan Americans are highly educated and most have advanced into higher education. The average educational attainment rate for American Sri Lankans exceeds that of the average rate for Asian Americans overall. Around 60% had at least a bachelor's degree and the community had the second highest income of any Asian ethnicity (after Asian Indian).

Europe

The spread of immigration into Europe has not been concentrated to one particular country but rather encompassing all of Western Europe. The largest populations can be found in the United Kingdom and France, with it being entirely feasible that there are more who speak German as a first language (Germany and Switzerland) than English as a first language (UK and Ireland).

United Kingdom and Ireland

The British Isles has always had a strong, albeit small, population of Sri Lankan Tamils deriving from colonial era immigration between Sri Lanka and the UK, but a surge in emigration from Sri Lanka took place after 1983, as the civil war caused living conditions deteriorate and placed many inhabitants in danger. It is now estimated that the current population of British Sri Lankan Tamils numbers around 100,000 to 200,000.

They are found throughout the country, but are much more concentrated in the South East, with the largest population of British Sri Lankan Tamils found in London, chiefly in Harrow (West London), Redbridge (East London), and Tooting (South London). The community generally has lower birth rates in comparison to other South Asian ethnic groups.

Unlike immigrants to countries in Continental Europe, many Sri Lankan Tamils that went to live in Anglosaxon countries achieved entry through non-refugee methods such as educational visas and family reunion visas in addition to as refugees. Many of the children of the first generation are also more upwardly mobile compared to their parents. Many of the second generation are middle class, and English is considered by many young Tamils as their first language. Many of the second generation identified themselves as Hindu but may not actively participate in the faith, while the Christian Tamils are more active.

France

There are over 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamils living in France, joining an existing large population of Tamils from the French overseas departments.

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