Kakinada:
The Tamil civilians who are escaping the war in Sri Lanka have vowed never to return to the island nation. "We don't want to go back to Sri Lanka" -- that is the chorus of the Tamil refugees in the relief camps.
Eleven Tamilians who landed in Kakinada by mistake, starved and fought death, said they expected India to have brought peace.
Inder Meenon's job with an IT company in Trincomalee is a thing of the past. The 23-year-old diploma holder in hardware engineering said that even though he earned Rs 13,000 every month, he does not want to go back to a life of fear and uncertainty in Sri Lanka.
"Even if we return to Sri Lanka, the Tamil-Sinhalese strife will persist. We will be suspected as LTTE cadre or informers. That problem will continue. Instead, if we work here, we will not have a problem," he said.
The Tamil refugees, however, wished that India had a more affirmative reaction to the war in Sri Lanka.
"We expected India to bring about a ceasefire and help in the formation of a Tamil Eelam. But nothing of the sort happened, even though 10,000 people died," said Inder Kumar, a refugee.
In the last three months, at least 50 boats with Tamil civilians have escaped from Mullaitivu for Rameshwaram. But no one knows how many survived the dangerous high seas.
Meanwhile, a police case has been slapped on these 11 refugees, accusing them of entering India without valid documents. But it is unlikely that it would be pursued seriously. Once they recover, they will be shifted to the relief camp in Rameshwaram.