Mu'l'likku'lam villagers forced to walk 20km seeking safety

[TamilNet, Saturday, 08 September 2007, 01:22 GMT]
Residents of Mu'l'likku'lam, a remote village in the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) occupied Musali division in Mannaar district, had to walk more than 20 km braving the SLA occupied Chilaavaththu'rai, seeking safety, and to have access to basic living needs including food. The local level government officials at Chilaavaththu'rai transported the refugees to Murungkan where they have been housed at the Government High School.

500 Tamil civilians belonging to 195 families arrived to Chilaavaththu'rai and were sent to Murungkan in the available busses and tractors.

The first busload of people arrived around 6:15 p.m. at Murungkan and received by government officials and Catholic clergy.

Mu'l'likku'lam, a coastal village, located near Puththa'lam district has been cut off from 1 September onwards after its only transportation link to Chilaavaththu'rai was occupied by the SLA. Due to this, people who ran out of supplies faced starvation.

Presently the entire population of the Musali division, numbering around 4'000, is displaced to the nearby Naanaaddaan division.

Mu'l'likku'lam, bordering Puththa'lam district is located in 46 km south of Mannaar town, 36 km south of Vangkaalai and 20 km south of Chilaavaththu'rai.

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