Amid economic crisis in the island nation, 6 Sri Lankan nationals illegally enter India via boat

The ongoing economic crisis in Sri Lanka, the worst-ever in the history of the island nation, is putting its citizens through extreme hardships.

From school exams being cancelled owing to a shortage of paper and printer ink, a cup of tea costing Rs. 100 (Sri Lankan Rupees) and even senior citizens dying while waiting at fuel stations, the situation is deteriorating with every passing day.

Now, a group of Lankan nationals have fled the island nation, which is nearing bankruptcy, and have reached Indian shores illegally.

Six Sri Lankan nationals took the extremely risky step of undertaking a roughly 50km-long, illegal boat ride from Pesalai, Mannar in the northwest of Sri Lanka to Rameswaram in India's Tamil Nadu. According to the Indian Coast Guard, they had received information about the illegal migration of six Lankan nationals to India.

Accordingly, the Coast Guard launched a hovercraft in the morning hours of Tuesday to patrol the area.

After two hours of searching, the craft's crew spotted six people on the fourth island of Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. An investigation revealed that the group, comprising a man, two women, and three children, are residents of Jaffna and Kokupadaiyan, in Sri Lanka's northern tip.

They had embarked on a fishing boat in the late night hours of Monday (10:30pm) and landed on the fourth island, Rameswaram, in the wee hours of Tuesday, around 1:30am. They had taken the illegal, risky boat ride across the Palk Strait, in order to escape the excessive rise in prices of essential commodities in their country.

The Coast Guard brought all six people to the Mandapam Hoverport safely and conducted a joint interrogation on arrival, following which they were handed over to the Coastal Security Group, Mandapam, for further legal action.

The cash-strapped Indian Ocean littoral state of Sri Lanka, home to nearly 22 million people, is faced with a crippling economic crisis, caused by a severe shortage of foreign exchange reserves that are required for essential imports. This has caused shortages in food, fuel, and even medicine. In addition to this, the country is also witnessing severe electricity blackouts.

Watch | Gravitas: Sri Lanka's economic crisis triggers exodus

Recently, the Indian government agreed to provide a $1 billion credit line to buy food and medicine on top of a $500 million facility granted earlier. Sri Lankan authorities announced last week that the country would seek an IMF bailout.

It is also reported that Sri Lanka has sought a new loan as well as buyer’s credit from China for USD2.5 billion. This sum is in addition to the $ 2.8 billion that China offered to Sri Lanka, since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.