Amid a severe economic crisis in Sri Lanka, a family of four sailed all the way from the Island nation and reached Rameswaram's Dhanushkodi on Thursday night.
The family counts a father and mother with their two-and-a-half-year-old son and a daughter, who are native to Mannar in Sri Lanka.
According to officials, the family sailed to the shore in Tamil Nadu on a fibre boat on Thursday after they started sailing from the Jaffna coast in the north of Sri Lanka.
"The refugee identified as A. Nishant (34) is a fisherman who along with his wife N. Ranjita, daughter N. Janushrika and son N. Akash have reached Dhanushkodi Arichalmunai in a plastic boat after paying Rs 50,000," said the Coastal Security Wing Police, who has been interrogating them.
"Due to the shortage of Kerosene we cannot go to the sea to perform our job of fishing," N. Ranjita said.
"There is no business there, even if a mason goes to work, he would find no cement there. There is no electricity for the carpenter to do his job," she added.
The woman also mentioned that because of the lack of income, it is impossible to buy goods at the high prices at which they are available.
"The people have been suffering tremendously in the absence of gas and the non-availability of electricity for long hours, due to which, even the schools remain shut half of the days. To avoid such suffering, we decided to escape and reach India," she said.
"Currently Sri Lanka is in a very bad state, which if continued, will only increase the appetite of the citizens. The country lacks even the essential commodities like palm oil, electricity, and fuel," said Nishanth.
He said that their core motive to come to India is to survive. He informed that many more like them are hoping and waiting to escape Sri Lanka and reach the Indian territory.
"Soon more than 30 per cent population will come here," he said.
The 34-year old also mentioned that the citizens get 10 litres of Kerosene, every second day, and those who can afford can buy extra kerosene and do their business.
He revealed that earlier also, he came and stayed in the country during 2006 and returned back in 2010.
Sri Lanka is battling a severe economic crisis with food and fuel scarcity affecting a large number of the people in the island nation. The economy has been in a free-fall since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka is also facing a foreign exchange shortage, which has, incidentally, affected its capacity to import food and fuel, leading to the power cuts in the country. The shortage of essential goods forced Sri Lanka to seek assistance from friendly countries.
( With inputs from ANI )
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