RAMANATHAPURAM: Two families from Sri Lanka reached Rameswaram’s Dhanushkodi on Friday to escape that nation’s economic crisis. The families started their journey from Sri Lanka’s Mannar around 1 am on Friday and reached Arichal Munai at 5 am. Following a security check, they were lodged at the Mandapam refugee camp. With this, the number of Sri Lankan Tamils seeking refuge in the State has gone up to 90.
According to sources, a family of five — Dossnavis (40) from Thirunavakulam, his wife Ranjini (39) and children Yosva (12), Angelin (11), and Ansika (5) — spent `1 lakh for the trip. Dossnavis was working at a private grenade removal firm. Another family was a mother-son duo, J Rathi (40), a day labourer from Thirikonamalai, and her son Santhanu (7). She had fled from Sri Lanka to Rameswaram in the 1990s along with her father, mother, and two brothers and stayed at Dindigul’s Vathalagundu refugee camp until 2012.