6 SL refugees land in Arichal Munai, rescued by Coast Guard

MADURAI: Six more Sri Lankan refugees landed at Arichal Munai in Ramanathapuram district on Monday. The worsening economic crisis in Sri Lanka forced these refugees to migrate to Tamil Nadu, seeking asylum, sources said. Ramanathapuram SP P Thangadurai, after enquiring, said the refugees boarded a boat that sailed clandestinely from Jaffna, from where they started at 7 pm on Sunday, in Sri Lanka and got dropped off at the First Sandbar near Dhanushkodi at around 2 am, on Monday. The Indian Coast Guard personnel with the aid of hovercraft rescued the refugees, who are of three families and took them to Arichal Munai. Further, the SP said the refugees paid Rs 2 lakh demanded by the boatmen. The refugees are identified as S Antony Dilakshan (24) from Pesalai, Mannar, Sri Lanka, his wife Sanukia (20), N Sasi Kumar (47) from Talaimannar, his wife Anthoniyal Fernando (42), their son Anton Sanujan (21) and Antony Maria Goretti (67), wife of Marcus Anthony from Mutharipputhurai. It was found that they had lived at a camp in Aranthangi, until 2012.