12 more Sri Lankan refugees arrive at Rameswaram

Chennai, Sep 20

As the financial situation in Sri Lanka remains uncertain, 12 more refugees from the island nation arrived in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu on Tuesday.

The 12 were rescued by the Hovercraft of the Indian Coast Guard from the 4th islet in Dhanushkodi police station limits. Those arriving on Tuesday included 3 men, 3 women, and 6 children. Dhanushkodi police told IANS that the 12 belong to three different families and have paid their lifetime savings for the fishing boat to drop them at the 4th islet.

They were taken to Rameswaram police station and after necessary medical checkups and proper verification of identities, all 12 were shifted to Mandapam refugee camp.

Since the commencement of the domestic crisis in Sri Lanka, 170 people have arrived on the Tamil Nadu coast.

A 71-year-old woman Sri Lankan refugee Parameswari who had landed at the Dhanushkodi mound along with her husband, Periyannan (80) died in the Government Rajaji Medical College, Hospital at Madurai on July 2. The woman had arrived at Rameswaram along with her husband on June 27 and was rescued by the Indian Coast Guard and Coastal Security Group after they had waded through neck-deep water into Dhanushokodi shores. The woman and her husband were immediately taken to the hospital for dehydration, where Parameswari passed away. This was the only incidence of a refugee dying after reaching Indian shores since the commencement of the refugee movement into India.