Two families, comprising seven persons, from Sri Lanka’s Jaffna and Trincomalee districts reached here by illegal vessels in the early hours of Tuesday.
An Indian Coast Guard patrol brought them to the shores and handed them over to the Marine Police.
Preliminary inquiries revealed that the two families had paid ₹1 lakh each to the fishermen in Sri Lanka and reached Indian waters at Arichalmunai around 3 a.m.
They were identified as Mary Agastha, 44 and her sons Nehar Agash, 16, and Kevin, 12, from Jaffna; and Magesan, 39, his wife Devi, 38, and sons Dhinesh, 10, and Humasan, 6, from Trincomalee.
Speaking to reporters, the Sri Lankans said they had been jobless for the last two months. Their small savings helped them buy food till last week. They almost starved as essentials were unavailable in their localities. With no job and no clue to when the economic crisis in the island nation would get over, they decided to reach India.
Ms. Mary Agastha said her family paid a broker in Jaffna and it was asked to come to a point from where it was taken to Dhanushkodi.
After verifying their identities, the police handed them over to the authorities at the Mandapam Rehabilitation Camp. A little over 100 persons from the neighbouring country have already taken refuge in Tamil Nadu, and the Tamil Nadu government has been providing them with food, shelter and clothing.
