Family of Sri Lankan refugees apprehended in Tamil Nadu

For several months, Sri Lankans have endured long lines to buy fuel, cooking gas, food, and medicines, most of which come from abroad and are paid for in hard currency. (Image: AP)

Four Sri Lankan Tamils were apprehended in Tamil Nadu’s Rameswaram while they were attempting to seek economic refuge in India, CNBC-TV18 reported.

The family of four -- Kishanthan, his wife Ranjitha, and their 10-year-old daughter and two-year-old son – had reached Danushkodi in Rameswaram early on April 8. They reportedly fled Sri Lanka to escape the rising cost of living in the island nation.

They were apprehended by the local marine police while they were afloat in a tiny boat within Indian territorial waters.

Notably, for months, Sri Lankans have endured long lines to buy fuel, cooking gas, food, and medicines, most of which come from abroad and are paid for in hard currency. The fuel shortage has caused rolling power cuts lasting several hours a day. The extent of the crisis became clear when Sri Lanka couldn’t pay for imports of basic supplies because of its huge debts and dwindling foreign reserves.

The soaring cost of living due to the unprecedented economic crisis has burnt a hole in Sri Lankans ’ pockets. In Sri Lanka, the overall rate of inflation for February 2022, as measured by National Consumer Price Index (NCPI), stood at 17.5 percent – the highest since 2015.

The country’s usable foreign reserves are said to be less than $400 million, according to experts, and it has nearly $7 billion in foreign debt obligations for this year alone.

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said on April 8 it has raised lending rates by seven percentage points to 14.5 percent and deposits to 13.5 percent to "stabilise the exchange rate" as the rupee depreciated by over 35 percent in a month.