Fearing Lankan naval fire, SL Tamil refugee lands TN shores swimming 13 km in Palk Strait

A Sri Lankan Tamil youth, fleeing the crisis-hit island nation, jumped into the sea to escape the gunfire of the SL Navy and reached the Dhanushkodi coast, swimming nearly 13 km in the Palk Strait. After staying with his grandfather in Ramanathapuram, he landed at the Mandapam Refugee Camp on Sunday. Puzzled at 24-year-old Hassan Khan entering undetected through the porous coastline, the TN Marine Police and Central Agencies are questioning him. Writes ETV Bharat's Bureau Chief, M C Rajan

Rameswaram: Faced with the gunfire of the Sri Lankan Navy, on surveillance close to the sandy islets in the Palk Strait off Dhanushkodi, 24-year-old Hassan Khan thought he had no other option but to jump into the sea. And, he swam about seven nautical miles (13 km) from Arichamunai, the fifth tiny islet, to reach Dhanushkodi, 750 km south of Chennai, the state capital.

The boat, ferrying him and a family of five from Mannar in the Jaffna peninsula was inching closer to Arichamunai when the vessel was targeted by the island navy. They were all fleeing to find a livelihood in neighboring Tamil Nadu since Sri Lanka is hurtling down to an economic catastrophe with prices shooting up and fuel becoming scarce. Khan had joined the family and boarded the hired boat with the hope of joining his parents in Puducherry, who are refugees, while his grandfather lived in Ramanathapuram.

It is only around 27 km between Mannar to Dhanushkodi and refugees illegally ferried by boats drop them at Arichamunai, the fifth of the 13 sandy islets marking the international border with Sri Lanka.

Rattled by the Lankan navy's gunshots, he took a plunge into the sea, leaving the family to land at the islet on Wednesday last. The family of five with a 6-month-old baby, waited for help to be ferried by four-wheelers to Dhanushkodi and then to the Mandapam camp, where refugees from the neighbor across the Palk Strait are put up till their credentials are verified. With the deepening of the economic crisis, the arrival of refugees has become a frequent one. The family had informed the officials that they were not aware of the fate of Khan.

However, Khan swam nearly 13 km and reached Dhanushkodi from where he boarded a goods vehicle and reached his grandfather Muniyandi's residence at Kuthukal Valasai on the outskirts of Ramanathapuram town, the district headquarters. His grandfather brought him to the Mandapam camp and handed him over to the officials on Sunday morning.

During questioning by the police, Khan @ Ajay had told them that his parents were refugees staying in Puducherry. He had fled the island nation due to the mounting economic hardship and wanted to join his parents so that he could look for a suitable job. Security agencies are puzzled at Khan entering the country by swimming undetected, though the coastline is porous and difficult for effective surveillance.

Till the questioning and other formalities are completed, police said he would be stationed at the camp, where 175 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees are kept since the outbreak of the economic crisis in the island nation.