Forty-nine Tamil refugees will return to their homeland by a commercial ferry that will leave Tuticorin on Tuesday,

Comprising 12 families, presently residing in different camps across the State, they belong to the second batch of refugees who will go back to Sri Lanka with UNHCR assistance, R. Vidjea Barathy, Associate Repatriation Officer, in the Chennai office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told The Hindu.

The Tuticorin-Colombo service, launched earlier this year, transported the first batch of 37 refugees in October. “They are being taken with their consent and they are aware of conditions in their hometowns. Most of them are in touch with their relatives there,” he said.

Tamil Nadu is home to nearly one lakh Tamil refugees, with over 68,000 living in 112 camps across the State, and nearly 32,000 elsewhere. Since the military conflict between the government and the LTTE ended in May 2009, refugees have been returning to the island in varying numbers.

According to the UNHCR, 800 refugees returned to Sri Lanka in 2009, 2,054 went back in 2010, and the figure crossed 1,448 in September this year.

The passenger ferry is due to sail from Tuticorin on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will reach Colombo after a 14-hour overnight journey, The Hindu said