COLOMBO, Aug. 26 -- Sri Lankan nationals living as refugees in India can now return to the country through any international airport without fear of questioning or arrest, Minister of Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake said.

Addressing a media briefing at the National People's Power (NPP) district office in Jaffna on Wednesday (26), Rathnayake said the government had introduced the necessary legal concessions and facilities to ensure the safe and dignified return of Sri Lankan citizens who had left the country through irregular routes during the war.

He said some returnees had previously been arrested after arriving at Bandaranaike International Airport in Katunayake because exemptions granted to certain groups of returnees...