Lankan refugees in Tamil Nadu sail back [September 17 2010]

The number of Lankan refugees, who fled the country due to LTTE terrorism in the North and the East, are returning to Sri Lanka in numbers, Sri Lanka Navy sources said.

Those who fled the country are sheltered in Mandapam refugee camp in India. With the success of the resetlment program, these refugees started arriving the country. Of the total IDP population of over 300,000, nearly 25,500 are remaining in the welfare centres in Vavuniya. The rest have gone home and started their livlihood with the assistance of the governemnt.

The SLN sources said that its Special Boat Squadron (SBS), operating close to the Indo-Lanka maritime boundary had saved 13 refugees persons, including three children stranded on the seventh Sand Bank of the Adams Bridge off Talaimannar. According to the sources, the refugees including seven men, three women and three children, had paid Rs 5,000 each for the journey. They came in Indian fishing crafts but the Indian fishermen had abandoned the group on the seventh Sand Bank, where the SLN had saved them.