Sri Lanka’s economic crisis has forced two ethnic Tamil families to flee the island nation. They reached Rameswaram clandestinely in a fibre boat in the early hours of Tuesday. In all, six persons, including a four-month-old baby boy, reached Arichalmunai near Dhanushkodi.
An Indian Coast Guard patrol spotted and detained them. They told officials that they left their country because of the spiralling prices of essential commodities and joblessness.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that they were from Jaffna and Talaimannar. According to a senior official who questioned them, the Sri Lankan nationals got into a boat around 10 p.m. on Monday and crossed the International Maritime Boundary Line past midnight. After dropping them off on a small island, the boatman returned, giving them a false hope that someone from Rameswaram would pick them up.
