A group of over 70 asylum seekers returned to Sri Lanka from India yesterday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) facilitated the arrival of the Sri Lankan asylum seekers. The UNHCR offered Rs. 14.500 for an elder and 11.500 for a minor on arrival at the BIA. The accounts were opened under the names of the chief households of the family at the Bank of Ceylon.

For the convenience of the returnees, the UNHCR has set up a special office at the entrance of the airport. Jithambaram Sankaraligam who left for India in 1990 told the Daily News that seven months after his marriage he fled to India. "Now, I have two children aged 14 and 7, he said.

"We travelled to India by boat and resided at a refugee camp located at Selan in Tamil Nadu.

"Now Sri Lanka is a war free country and there is protection for all without discrimination." he said.

I want to embark on a fresh life with my family members in my motherland and I invite everybody to join us to live freely in our motherland with equal opportunities," he said.