Sri Lankan Tamils on hunger strike at Mandapam

A group of Sri Lankan Tamils who were rescued by Nagapattinam fishermen while they were stranded mid-sea, on Thursday staged a hunger strike at the Mandapam transit camp, urging the government to release them at the earliest.

Around 65 Lankan Tamils, including three women and a child, had engaged a boat last month to take them to Australia from Sri Lanka. However, the agent left them stranded mid-sea, near Nagapattinam. Fishermen rescued them and later handed them over to police. After a brief inquiry, they were sent to the Mandapam transit camp on September 15.