New Documentary Highlights Ongoing Legal Limbo of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India

Senior journalist RK Radhakrishnan has directed a new documentary titled Faceless People — The Journey of Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in India, which explores the lives of refugees still waiting for Indian citizenship decades after fleeing the war. The documentary has been selected as a finalist in the SHORTS! European Short Film Festival in Oslo, scheduled for December 14.

Documentary Focus

The film follows six refugees, including a school boy, a housewife, a young woman with academic dreams, and the community's first PhD scholar. Most of them arrived on boats under harsh conditions to escape the brutal killings of Sri Lankan Tamils in northern Sri Lanka. Radhakrishnan spent nearly four decades as a print journalist and reported on camps across Tamil Nadu, including in Thanjavur, Mannar, and Tiruchi. His first camp visit was in 2006 during a cholera outbreak, which led the government of late Chief Minister Karunanidhi to set up nine groups of Ministers to investigate camp conditions. Radhakrishnan notes that most camp residents who have lived in India for most of their lives lack citizenship, voting rights, job access, and legal protection.

Challenges and Recognition

The Central Board of Film Certification reviewed the film for two and a half months and restricted its viewing to audiences over 16. The documentary also aims to dismantle the perception of refugees as security threats, a view linked to the 1991 assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Among the featured subjects is Negha, a scholar compromising on her dreams of studying abroad, and Abhinesh, a young child resigned to working as a carpenter. On a brighter note, the film highlights AS Vijedharan, who earned a PhD in Political Science and Public Administration from Annamalai University. Politicians Supriya Sule, Kanimozhi, Thamizhachi Thangapandian, and Jothimani Sennimalai recently attended a screening of the documentary in Delhi for Members of Parliament.

Festival Wins

Faceless People is a 2026 official selection at the International Film Festival The Hague and won Best Migration and Refugee Documentary at the Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards 2026. It also received the short documentary award (Special Jury) at the Roshani International Film Festival in Aurangabad in September 2026.