Antony Jeevarathnam Mayuran's life is a testament to resilience, purpose, and the transformative power of education. Born in Sri Lanka, Mayuran fled the country's civil war at the age of five in 1990, crossing stormy seas by boat with his family to seek asylum in India. For the next 25 years, he lived as a registered refugee in Tamil Nadu, navigating hardship, stigma, and uncertainty — yet emerging as one of the most inspiring voices in the Sri Lankan Tamil refugee community.
Growing up in a 10' × 10' partitioned space inside a refugee camp in Tirunelveli District, Mayuran excelled academically despite the odds. He consistently ranked first in his class from Grades 5 through 10, placed second across over 2,000 refugee students in Tamil Nadu, and led his school's student forum for seven years. The Organization for Eelam Refugees' Rehabilitation (OfERR) played a pivotal role in his development, providing scholarships, mentorship, and opportunity at every critical juncture — from notebooks as a child to funding his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at St. Xavier's College, Tirunelveli.
With the guidance of mentors Dr. Florina and Dr. Gladston, Mayuran went on to complete a Post Graduate Diploma in Conflict Transformation at the Henry Martyn Institute in Hyderabad, a Master’s Degree in Social Work and an MPhil from Loyola College, Chennai in with a thesis titled Living Conditions of the Sri Lankan Repatriates in Panthalur Taluk, The Nilgiris District, India. His academic work was grounded in lived experience, giving his research a depth and authenticity rarely found in the field. He has also published in Forced Migration Review, one of the world's leading journals on displacement, with an article titled The Power of Education in Refugees' Lives: Sri Lankan Refugees in India(FMR Issue 55, https://www.fmreview.org/shelter/mayuran/), which examines how education served as a cornerstone of resilience and empowerment for Sri Lankan Tamil refugees in Tamil Nadu. He then served OfERR in progressively senior roles — as Assistant Program Coordinator in Advocacy, Program Coordinator in Community Mobilization, and Program Coordinator in Human Resource Development — supporting thousands of refugees through humanitarian, protection, and empowerment program.
On 10 April 2015, Mayuran returned to Sri Lanka — a moment he describes as one of the most profound of his life. Upon landing, he declared, "I am no longer a refugee." He joined OfERR (Ceylon) and contributed to the return and reintegration of over 20,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees from India, providing support in land, shelter, documentation, education, health, and livelihoods across the Northern Province.
In 2022, Mayuran co-founded the Sri Lankan branch of Visions Global Empowerment (https://www.visionssrilanka.org/), with a mission to unleash the potential of youth through leadership, innovation, technology, and community development. Through the Young Leaders Realizing Dreams program, Visions Sri Lanka is shaping the next generation of leaders in schools, universities, and communities across the country.
Mayuran currently lives in Point Pedro, Sri Lanka with his wife and two children. His story — from Refugee No. 144 to community leader and changemaker — continues to inspire refugees and advocates around the world.
