Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948

E940784

The Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948 was a post-independence law in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) that effectively rendered many Indian Tamils stateless by imposing stringent requirements for obtaining citizenship.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948 canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Act of Parliament
citizenship law
consequence denial of political rights to many Indian Tamils
large-scale statelessness among Indian Tamils
loss of voting rights for many Indian Tamils
marginalisation of Indian Tamil community
country Ceylon NERFINISHED
Sri Lanka
criticisedFor creating stateless persons
ethnic discrimination
violating principles of equality before the law
dateEnacted 1948
discriminatoryImpactOn Indian Tamils NERFINISHED
historicalPeriod post-independence Ceylon
impactOn civil and political rights of Indian Tamils
representation of Indian Tamils in Parliament of Ceylon
voting strength of Indian Tamil community
implementedBy Government of Ceylon NERFINISHED
jurisdiction Ceylon NERFINISHED
languageOfTitle English
legalRequirement long period of residence in Ceylon
strict proof of paternal ancestry in Ceylon
stringent requirements for obtaining citizenship
legalStatus superseded by later Sri Lankan citizenship legislation
mainEffect rendered many Indian Tamils stateless
restricted access to Ceylonese citizenship
politicalContext Sinhalese-dominated post-independence government
post-colonial nation-building in Ceylon
purpose define who qualified as a citizen of Ceylon
limit citizenship to persons with strong ancestral ties to Ceylon
regionAffected Central Highlands of Ceylon NERFINISHED
tea plantation areas of Ceylon
relatedTo Ceylon parliamentary elections
Indian and Pakistani Residents Citizenship Act 1949 NERFINISHED
Sri Lankan Tamil–Indian Tamil distinction
Sri Lankan citizenship law
plantation sector labour politics in Ceylon
statelessness in Sri Lanka
shortDescription Post-independence citizenship law in Ceylon
subjectMatter citizenship
ethnic relations in Ceylon
nationality law
post-colonial legal reforms
targetPopulation Indian Tamil plantation workers
Indian Tamils in Ceylon NERFINISHED
yearEnacted 1948

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka affectedBy Ceylon Citizenship Act 1948