Spurt in refugees to Tamil Nadu

RAMANATHAPURAM: Influx of Sri Lankan refugees to Tamil Nadu saw a sudden increase in the last few weeks following escalation in the war between the Sri Lankan Army and the LTTE.
More than 100 refugees arrived during the last 20 days।
On Tuesday, a group of 27 refugees landed on the Kambipadu shore near Dhanushkodi in a fibreglass boat. This is the first time in recent months that a Sri Lankan boat carrying refugees chose to land during the day.
“A large number of displaced Tamil people are desperate to come to India as refugees due to the pitched battle. However, they are finding difficult to arrange boats due to heightened vigilance by the Sri Lankan Navy and others.
Abduction of innocent civilians by ‘unknown white vans’ has become a big menace for Tamils,” said Jayaseelan (29) of Murunkan, who landed along with his wife and nine-month-old baby.
A Defence officer said an alert had been sounded along the coast following the “recent developments.” A close watch was being maintained on boats coming across the border.
Instructions had been given to field-level personnel to check the occupants of these boats.
Fishermen had been cautioned against venturing into the sea without valid documents.
Police officers keeping any eye on Sri Lankan refugees said the focus was on verifying the antecedents of refugees between the age group of 20 to 35 years.
On arrival, they would be kept in quarantine camps for 15 days to verify whether they were genuine refugees or cadres of the banned LTTE. (Hindu)