RAMESWARAM: Hit by the worsening economic crisis, a single mother and her two children from Sri Lanka landed in Dhanushkodi in the early morning hours of Wednesday. With this, 42 Sri Lankan Tamil migrants, including children, have arrived in Tamil Nadu so far.
A team of marine police took the mother and two children under custody from Arichal Munai in Dhanushkodi since they had no proper migration documents. They were brought to the Marine police station in Rameswaram for further inquiries.
Police said that Varshini (37) and her two children namely, Nainika (11) and Rangesan (4), are residents of Batticaloa in Sri Lanka.
Varshini told the police that the worsening economic crisis and scarcity of basic amenities forced them to flee to India seeking refuge.
Varshini said she paid a whopping Rs 2.5 lakhs Sri Lanka rupees to a boat owner for sailing to India illegally. They started from Mannar by Tuesday around 10 pm and were dropped by the boat at Arichal Munai in the wee hours of Wednesday. Following an investigation, the mother and kids were lodged at Mandapam camp by Wednesday afternoon.
While addressing the media, Varshini said, "Owing to the prevailing economic crisis, prices of all basic amenities including food items have increased. Presently, several basic amenities have become scarce in our areas. On an average, an egg costs 50 rupees now and we are not able to get milk powder even when we are ready to pay the increased price. Being a single mother of two children, I faced severe hardships to raise my children amid such harsh situations. Thus we decided to come to India to lead a better life."
She added that she had paid a sum of 2.5 lakhs in Sri Lankan rupee by selling her last gold ornaments to the boat for getting to India. Also, She added that they have been waiting in the Mannar area for three days before getting a boat to India. After several hours of the boat ride, they were dropped at Arichal Munai.