Page 48 - KDU Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2

KDU Law Journal Volume 04 Issue II
September, 2024
Refugee protection and challenges in Sri Lankan
context
Sri Lanka right now has many issues when it comes to the protection
of refugees. Absence of legislation of legal value and weakness of
the institutional structures are pre-conditions of ineffective refugee
protection and management. Besides that, the political instability
and ethnic tensions in the country are some obstacles in passing
adoption plan for the refugees as well as the asylum seekers at least
those ones who are from the neighboring countries.

Those who seek asylum in Sri Lanka are confronted with a vast
stream of issues that affect their wellness, safety, and the process
through which they can revive their lives. The key difficulties
refugees are faced with in their host country including the problems
they encounter when seeking to access essential services, to the
obstacles of their integration into the economic and social fabric of
society and the legal protection they receive.
Access to Essential Services
Care of refugees in Sri Lanka is among the primary issues they
face in that regard, ranging from limited access to vital services as
healthcare, education and employment. Although the institutions
12
and the humanitarian organizations try to eliminate the gaps in the
access to healthcare for the refugees including language barriers,
requirement of documents and the unfamiliarity with the healthcare
system, but the refugees may still carry on the unwanted challenges in
that regard. Also, bureaucratic barriers to children in refugee camps
and the discrimination against them result in a situation where the
educational services are either discontinued or denied without the
access to opportunities for learning and skill development. Besides,
neither is a work opportunity for the refugees available much nor the
economic freedom from relying on humanitarian assistance persists.

12 Susan Kneebone, ‘The International Refugee Law Framework: Protection Gaps and New
Directions’ (29(1) International Journal of Refugee Law 2017) 102-127.
law.faculty@kdu.ac.lk
41