Lankan refugee influx at Mandapam camp on rise

Rameswaram (Tamil Nadu), Jun 3: Hundred and twelve more Sri Lankan Tamil refugees arrived here today in three mechanised boats to seek shelter at the Mandamp camp, even as official machinery was geared to face the influx, which is expected to increase in further the coming days.

With the arrival of 112 refugees, including 35 children, the total number of Tamil refugees has risen to 2,772 in the last three months.

The arrival of refugees began on January 12 after the Sri Lankan forces started attackng the Tamil areas in the North Eastern region of the Island Nation and, since then, there has been a steady flow of refugees arriving here.

A lurking suspicion, however, has creeped in that many refugees were are arriving here just to bide their time, giving the fierce battle between the Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam(LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government as an excuse, the sources said.

It was also being felt that many refugees, possessing passports to various countries were finding it covenient to depart from India rather than from Sri Lanka. This problem confronts Indian immigration authorities since 1973, the sources added.

UNI