Sri Lankan refugees in the special camp in India have launched a hunger protest pleading the United Nations to reunite them with their families.

The Sri Lankan refugees are being detained by the Indian authorities in the special camp for foreigners in Cheyyar,

Speaking to Indian media one of the refugees said “I last saw my wife, our 13-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son on May 7.  Since I was detained in the special camp, I do not know the whereabouts of my family. I do not know if my children are going to school or locked up in one of the camps. 

Express reported that he was one of the beneficiaries of India’s free housing scheme for Lankan Tamils in Mullaitivu. He and 24 other refugees are on a fast-unto-death to draw the attention of the UN.

“Two other Lankan Tamils in the camp are also clueless about the whereabouts of their families. We have not even heard a word from them despite repeated petitions to the Collector,” said another Lankan Tamil.

The inmates said that the Foreigner’s Act which they were detained under doesn’t say that the detainee should be separated from his family.

The inmates also claimed that they had been in the camp for more than three months but the police was yet to file a charge sheet.