| dc.description.abstract | “Malaiyaha Tamils” are also known as Hill Country Tamils, Up-Country Tamils or simply
Indian Tamils. They predominantly descend from workers sent from Southern India to Sri
Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Since
their ancestors’ arrival on the island in the nineteenth century, Up-country Tamils have
lived at the margins of Sri Lankan society and politics, while being an integral part of
the country’s import-export economy. The community has existed in Sri Lanka for more
than 200 years without Sri Lankan citizenship and discriminated for decades. While all
the communities in Sri Lanka are suffering from the economic crisis, it is question to
know, how the ongoing economic crisis has affected the already discriminated Malaiyaha
Tamil community. Malaiyaha Tamil population in Uva province is 154,252. In order to
understand the nature of the impact of the economic crisis on the Malaya Tamil people,
this study has been conducted using convenience random sampling method by adopting
qualitative research sampling strategies and 50 civilians of Uva province belonging to
the Malaya Tamil community were interviewed for the study. Semi structured interview
method has been used to gather the data and qualitative content analysis method has
been utilized for data analysis. According to the study, 95 percent of the community is
suffering from malnutrition, 20 percent of families reported school drop outs, 65 percent
families reported early marriages. Women in 30 percent of families work as house maids
in Middle Eastern countries, 80 percent of the community does not have permanent
jobs. Based on the study it can be concluded that the economic crisis has severely
affected the livelihood of the Malayan Tamil people. Further research could be done
on the livelihood of the Malaiyaha Tamil community, Nature of the prolonged struggles
encountered by the Malaiyaha Tamil community, nature of the modern struggles face by
the Malaiyaha community due to economic crisis, Nature of the criminality within the
Malaiyaha community during the economic crisis. | en_US |
