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RAMANATHAPURAM: In the wake of an outbreak of dengue fever in the district, the administration has issued orders to the Health department to conduct special medical camps at tourist spots, including Rameswaram, to screen people immediately on arrival to the coastal region.

Already, a team of doctors had identified nine patients for dengue in Paramakudi block and 13 patients in Ramanathapuram.

All of them are undergoing treatment in government and private hospitals.

Sources in the Deputy Director’s (Health) office in Ramanathapuram revealed that there were no sufficient medical kits and drugs in hospitals to tackle the fever.

Shortage of staff in the Health department was also cited as a reason for not taking the needed care to treat the patients. However, adequate steps were being taken to contain the highly contagious fever, the sources added.

With a large number of tourists from the northern parts of India thronging Rameswaram island, the possibility of dengue spreading fast in the district was there, said some doctors.

Meanwhile, a mysterious fever visited some rural areas of the district, including Pogalur, Rameswaram, Thondi and Sayalkudi.

District Collector K S Muthuswamy told this website’s newspaper that around 22 persons, affected by dengue, had been screened in the district. Breeding of mosquitoes causing dengue was found in fresh and stagnant water and people had been asked to take precautionary measures, he added.

Muthuswamy further said that a team of doctors had been asked to conduct camps in Rameswaram and other tourist spots. Tourists could go in for screening tests if they carried symptoms of dengue, the Collector said.

Fleeing death and destruction in Sri Lanka, around 15,000 people have escaped to the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu since January, amid an escalating war on the island between the security forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

Most of the refugees are poor farmers, laborers and fishermen. They had to scrape together several thousand rupees to pay for their boat fares. In many cases, this was their life savings—some sold their belongings to meet the cost. They packed essential items into polythene-covered suitcases and bags for the 40-kilometre voyage.

Dozens of people had died making the risky journey in improvised boats. The Sri Lankan navy, which patrols the straits between the two countries, has arrested hundreds of refugees this year and handed them over to the police.

Refugees who make it to Tamil Nadu have to register at the Mandapam camp, 15 kilometres from Rameswaram on the eastern coast. Later, they are shifted to one of the 103 camps administered by the Tamil Nadu government. These hold 62,969 people, with more than 100,000 refugees living outside the camps. Most of the residents have been there since the 1990s.

Indian police screen all refugees for suspected LTTE members. An intelligence bureau official said: “They are checked for war-time scars. If we suspect that any of them were or are LTTE cadres, they are sent to special camps for militants in Chenglepet or Vellore.”

The situation inside the camps is pathetic. The 287-acre camp at Mandapam has high walls with electric barbed-wire fencing. On the other side is the sea, patrolled by Indian coastal guards. The refugees live in a dilapidated row of houses.

Bathroom and toilet facilities are virtually non-existent. Most of the 830 toilets are blocked and have no roofs. Similarly, the “bathrooms” have no pipes, just open drains. Residents collect water from four outside wells. Even the streets are unlit. A 20-bed hospital runs without power and has limited medical facilities.

Even by Indian standards, the food rations and dole payments are not enough to live. Each refugee gets five litres of kerosene a month. Adults receive 500 grams of uncooked rice per day and children 400 grams. In addition, adults are expected to survive on monthly stipends of 144 rupees (about $US3) and children on 45 rupees.

Tamil Nadu’s Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam (DMK) government has promised to increase the dole to 400 rupees for family heads, but this is yet to be implemented.

Most refugees want decent jobs or to set up small businesses. However, they have become a source of cheap labour, exploited ruthlessly by local employers. In some instances, women have been forced into prostitution and drug running.

It is hardly surprising that the government wants to cover up the conditions in the camps. When the WSWS team visited the Mandapam refuge camp, the administrative officer prohibited interviews or photos. At the Dhanushkodi camp, after much persuasion, permission was granted to speak to refugees for just 30 minutes.

While exploiting the plight of the Sri Lankan Tamils for its own political purposes, the DMK government is deliberately keeping the refugees isolated from the state’s working and poor masses.

In August, almost all the Tamil Nadu parties, including the ruling DMK, condemned the atrocities being carried out by the Sri Lankan military. The opposition Marumalarachi Dravida Munnettra Kazaham (MDMK), the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Dalit Panther Party were particularly vociferous and organised public protests in Madras. None of the parties have spoken out about the plight of the refugees.

Refugees were eager to speak to the World Socialist Web Site.
Raju described the situation in his hometown of Vavuniya, which is controlled by the Sri Lankan military. “Whenever a claymore mine exploded, the army started to shoot indiscriminately, so I decided to come here with my wife and baby. I am a building worker and we cannot get any work there. We sold whatever we had, and came here. We thought we could do any odd job here,” he said.

“I had come here with my parents in 1995. Things improved in Sri Lanka a little when the cease-fire agreement was signed [in 2002]. Because of that we went back in 2002, rather than being a refugee here. In Sri Lanka I had to work every day to survive. If there was work I could earn up to 450 rupees per day. With this hard-earned money I built my own house. But the military was destroying houses and shelling civilians.”

Raju said food prices had risen dramatically in Sri Lanka’s north. “The government is spending millions on the military. As a result, a good country is being ruined. We have sold all our things and come here, because of [Sri Lankan President Mahinda] Rajapakse.”

A young housewife explained that her family had to pay a large amount of money to escape. “For adults, the boats charged 6,000 to 10,000 rupees, and 3,000 rupees for children. We had to sell all our belongings and even our jewellery, all at low prices.”

The boat in which she came had been crammed full with seven people. “In another boat there were ten. It capsized and I think they lost their lives. We never thought we would reach the shore.We want to live in freedom, like people live here in India.”

“The [Sri Lankan] government is responsible for this. They talk about peace in the parliament, but then continue the war. They are abducting innocent people in white vans and also killing Muslims.”

She expressed her disapproval of the LTTE’s role as well. “Nothing good will come out of either side. In a two-hour fight, 50 LTTE and 50 soldiers might die. But 100 ordinary people will also be killed.”

Raji was married just nine months ago, but she fled, leaving her parents behind. In Sri Lanka, she had been hiding from the army. The military had arrested a friend of hers, on suspicion that he was a LTTE member. Later she was detained without charge for 14 days, before the International Committee of the Red Cross intervened. She fled as part of a group of 20 refugees.

“For five days before we left for India, we had no food. There was nothing left in the house. Both the LTTE and the army think we should support them. We are trampled in between. The army is camped in our rural agricultural society building. They are stealing from the abandoned houses, so the family elders are staying there.” She said her entire life had been affected by the war.

Kumar, a building worker in his 30s, said: “I lived in Trincomalee town and I have four children. I came here with my parents in 1990 and later went back. Now after getting married, I have come here again with my wife and my four daughters.

“In the presidential election, the two main parties [United National Party (UNP) and Sri Lankan Freedom Party (SLFP)] offered nothing for the Tamil people. Therefore we did not vote for anyone. Neither the UNP nor the SLFP will bring peace.

“In the last general election, we voted for the TNA [Tamil National Alliance, a pro-LTTE group]. They have 22 MPs in the parliament, but no policy for us. In the Trincomalee region, Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims all live together. Now we have come here as refugees.”

Kumar said the problem was not the ordinary Sinhalese, but the leaders. “We were affected by the tsunami [in December 2004]. At that time, Sinhala people helped us a lot. Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim people were living well with each other. Only at the top level, the leaders instigate racial hatred. Because of that, the Sinhalese and Muslims living in Trincomalee have left seeking asylum elsewhere… All people must come together to change this.”

No respite for internally displaced persons in war-ravaged Sri Lanka

The humanitarian crisis that has emerged due to the conflicts in northeast Sri Lanka has reached a crucial phase. The Sri Lankan government forces have resorted to indiscriminate assaults, targeting civilian areas while, at the same time, blocking relief materials and supplies to internally displaced persons (IDP) and enacting stringent directives for aid agencies.

This twin track strategy has proven to be detrimental to the thousands of civilians affected by the resumption of hostilities between Sri Lankan forces and Liberation of Tamil Tigers Eelam (LTTE) rebels in May 2006.

Another obvious concern for aid agencies is the personal security of aid workers and volunteers in the country, especially after the death of 17 volunteers working for French aid agency Action Against Hunger in early July.

The general perception is that the Colombo administration is openly flaunting international law by using humanitarian services as a weapon of war and by placing many parts of the Northeast under information blackout and essential items blockade.

An estimated 200,000 people, mostly Tamils, have been displaced internally and spread across northeastern Sri Lanka. The World Food Programme (WFP) has placed the number even higher, adding another 40,000 people. After a short respite in the violence in late August, renewed fighting in Trincomalee district has put an end to the return of refugees from areas close to Kanthale and Muttur.

In addition, over 11,000 Tamil refugees have arrived on the shores of southern India since January this year. They alleged that due to harassment by the Sri Lankan navy and military personnel, they could no longer continue with their traditional fishing activities for livelihood. Many of them sold off their fishing boats and nets to pay for the perilous one-hour sea voyage over the Palk Strait from Talai Mannar in Sri Lanka to Rameswaram in India.

At least 10 refugees drowned in May 2005 when their boat capsized off the Indian coast. In addition, many refugees are at the risk of human traffickers who operate obsolete and overcrowded vessels and overcharge for the voyage.

Refugee influx to India lessened during the first quarter of this year, possibly due to peace talks between the rebels and the government, but rose during April and May after offensives unleashed by LTTE on government forces in and around Trincomalee and elsewhere.

Nevertheless, these numbers do not reflect the actual refugee situation that has been aggravated by the ongoing conflict, as being granted permission to visit the areas hosting IDP is difficult for humanitarian agencies.

Indeed, access to food and medicine has been restricted in locations such as Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Batticaloa and Ampara due to indiscriminate shelling, mortar attacks and mines.

Though freedom of movement inside rebel-held areas is still restricted, there is some respite for the people of the Batticaloa district where significant numbers of IDPs have moved due to the UN agencies, the Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) having access to the most remote areas.

Alarmingly, food and other basic supplies at the disposal of various aid agencies along with local food stocks are depleting fast. Any chance of re-supply is difficult under the present state of affairs. Most of the aid agencies blame the Colombo administration for this deepened humanitarian crisis.

The WFP’s operations have been severely hampered by the restricted opening of the Omanthai crossing into the Vanni, which is a LTTE-controlled area in the north. The agency’s Selvi Sachithanandam told ISN Security Watch that the UN body “plans to provide basic food rations to all 240,000 IDP [in the area] but their high degree of mobility as well as limited humanitarian access presents significant challenges in programming and pre-positioning of food.”

The UN Common Humanitarian Action Plan (CHAP), launched in Geneva in last month, has already appealed for a total of US$37.46 million to provide shelter, emergency supplies and protection for the displaced as part of a joint UN humanitarian action plan for the war ravaged country. The WFP has already delivered 2,583 tons of mixed food commodities to newly displaced people and have pledged more in the coming days.

Hopefully, this will not prove too little and too late for the people caught between the devil and deep sea.

Ramanathapuram, Sept. 15: Rameswaram island, the famous Hindu pilgrimage centre and home town of President APJ Abdul Kalam, would soon become a plastic-free zone, thanks to the steps being taken by the district administration.

“The district adminstration has resolved to convert the holy island of Rameswaram into a plastic-free zone,” K S Muthusamy, the district collector, said in a statement here today.

The usage of plastic bags and disposables will be banned in the island from October 2, the Gandhi Jayanti day. Instead of plastic, people would be asked to use cloth or paper-made articles.

The decision in this regard had been taken at the Rameswaram town development committee meeting held recently.

The tiny island, situated on the Palk straits and connected to India by a long bridge, attracts thousands of pilgrims and tourists, particularly at the Ramanathaswamy temple.

The Rameswaram Municipality has also been asked to propagate the ban order on plastic material by displaying advertisements for the benfit of tourists.

“Action would be taken against persons who violated the ban order,” the collector said.