With the cost of living as deadly as war, Tamils in the North flee to India
Many Sri Lankan refugees who returned home after fleeing to Tamil Nadu during the civil war are considering fleeing again due to Sri Lanka's financial woes. However, the Indian Navy has stepped up coastal patrols and is returning refugees to their villages.
Colombo (AsiaNews) – The majority of Tamils in the North are fleeing to India, like during the country’s civil war, because of food inflation running at 25 per cent, overall inflation at approximately 18 per cent, fuel prices rising by 138 per cent due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and “dangerous shortages” that threaten starvation for the island nation’s population of 22 million.
On 25 April, 15 refugees from the North reached Dhanushkodi, Tamil Nadu, using a fishing boat and were later directed to the Mandapam Refugee Camp. In previous weeks, approximately 75 Sri Lankans reached Indian shores, the majority of them returnees from India, who had fled to India because of the civil war that broke out in the 1980s.
At present, over 100,000 Sri Lankan refugees are living in temporary camps and rented homes in Tamil Nadu, although 13 years have passed since the end of the separatist war.
According to the 2020 Progress Report and 2021 development programmes issued by the State Ministry of Rural Housing and Construction and Building Materials Industries Promotion, 9,327 refugees (3,656 families) returned to Sri Lanka during the period from 2011 to 30 September 2020. The majority of them settled down in the North, their former homeland.
Yet, many of those who returned in the past few years are contemplating going back to India due to the shortage and skyrocketing prices of essential goods, like food and fuels, as well as rolling power blackouts that have turned their lives into an “existential struggle” in the past few months.
A few days ago, two people from Gurunagar, in Jaffna, reached Thondi Fisheries Harbour in Tamil Nadu, only to be arrested and detained at Puzhal Prison.
Tamil Nadu security forces have increased patrols to arrest people fleeing to the State, although many are getting through despite high security alerts.
The Sri Lanka Navy has also stepped up its patrolling activity in northern waters in the past several weeks to prevent people from fleeing to Tamil Nadu on fishing boats.
Last Friday night, at around 11.30 pm, Sri Lanka Navy vessels intercepted a fishing boat four nautical miles from Kankesanthurai, in the North, with 13 refugees on board who were fleeing to India. The group, which included five men, three women and five girls, were handed over to Sri Lanka Police for further investigations and legal action.
The majority of those fleeing Sri Lanka are from well-to-do families in Jaffna, although there are some from impoverished areas outside the peninsula.
Recently, seven refugees from the East, three adults and four children, were apprehended. The three adults were released on Rs. 50,000 bail each; however, the magistrate refused to go along with charges against the four children.
Some Jaffna residents who tried to flee to India two or three times told AsiaNews that they had to pay a huge sum as a “brokerage fee” to smugglers, although they failed to reached India.
Meanwhile, in the East, especially in Trincomalee, more people are attempting to flee to India, especially from the most impoverished areas like Kumburupitty and Thiriyai.
For them to escape to India, they would have to go around Kankesanthurai where there is a high probability that they will be detected by the Sri Lanka Navy. Hence, they prefer to travel by land to Mannar from where they can arrange a sea crossing to Tamil Nadu.
To this end, they have to stay in some house until the boat is ready. But sometimes, due to tip-offs, they are detected and sent home. Recently, some refugees were caught by the Navy after three attempts and returned to their villages.
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27/10/2017 20:14
