TC Web Desk
Dozens of Sri Lankans, including at least six from two families, arrived in India’s Tamil Nadu on Wednesday after fleeing their country amid financial crisis, authorities said in a report.
Sri Lanka’s parliament has extended a state of emergency imposed in early July as protests continue over months of financial woes that have resulted in shortages of food, fuel and electricity.
According to news agency PTI, three of the six people who fled to Tamil Nadu a day ago were children. The family left their hometown of Jaffna in Sri Lanka and arrived in India by boat.
Officials then rescued them from an island and took them to the Mandapam refugee camp, PTI reported.
In recent months, many Sri Lankans, mostly Tamils, have left the island nation for India via Tamil Nadu, There are unable to cope with the crisis, rising commodity prices and fuel prices.
They were landed by sailors near Rameswaram Island and rescued by the Indian Coast Guard and taken to Dhanushkodi to be handed over to the police.
On July 18, Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was also the Acting President at the time, declared a “state of emergency” under the Public Safety Ordinance for public safety, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community, according to reports.
