Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday urged the Union government to grant citizenship to eligible Sri Lankan Tamils living in the state and provide legal clarity on their status.

“They have been living on Indian soil for more than 30 years,” Stalin wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Of these, 40% were born on our soil! Therefore, they should not be considered illegal immigrants. The Indian government should come forward to provide legal solutions, including citizenship, for them.”

Stalin described the matter as one of “profound humanitarian, constitutional and national importance”, The Hindu reported.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief asked the Union government to withdraw the 1986 administrative instructions that stopped Sri Lankan Tamils from applying for citizenship.

Stalin also sought an executive clarification to waive passport and visa requirements, where appropriate, for citizenship or long-term visa applications based on verified identity documents issued by the Tamil Nadu government, The Hindu reported.

He asked that suitable powers be delegated to the district-level authorities to streamline the processing of applications.

Stalin further requested that the Union government formally clarify the legal status of registered Sri Lankan Tamil citizens “sheltered” in India up to January 9, 2015.

“These individuals have lived in India with dignity, discipline and deep cultural affinity for more than four decades,” he said. “The continued characterisation of their status as irregular does not reflect the humanitarian context of their entry nor the state-sanctioned nature of their stay.”

Thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils have been living in India since 1983 after fleeing an ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. As of Sunday, about 89,000 persons from the community were in Tamil Nadu, according to Stalin.

Stalin said that while successive Tamil Nadu governments, with the support of the Union government, had provided shelter, subsistence support, education and healthcare to the Sri Lankan Tamils, several refugees continue to face prolonged legal uncertainty without access to durable solutions such as citizenship or long-term visas.

An advisory committee constituted by the state government examined their status and found that several categories of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees were eligible for regularisation under existing legal frameworks, The New Indian Express reported.

These include persons born in India before June 30, 1987, those born to one Indian parent, spouses of Indian citizens, persons of Indian origin having lineage documentation and others eligible for long-term visas.

The chief minister highlighted that the 2003 amendment to the Citizenship Act, which introduced the category of “illegal migrant”, had the unintended consequence of retrospectively affecting those who entered India under extraordinary humanitarian circumstances with “the tacit approval of the Union government”, The Hindu reported.