Many have thatched outdoor extensions where babies sleep and mothers cook. There is one toilet in each block, many of them clogged and unusable. While officials claim there are about 1,500 refugees in Mandapam, the unofficial estimate is as high as 8,000. Tamil Nadu is home to an estimated 100,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. Life in the Mandapam camp, the refugees allege, is extremely hard, but they are thankful to have escaped the bloodletting in northern Sri Lanka.
Electricity is cut off in the camp at six in the morning.
We can't use fans, we are living like animals here. Daniel used to work with the Sri Lankan Navy and owned farms in the troubled Kilinochchi area. One day he retuned home to find his son and daughter missing and his farms destroyed. He fled soon after and has been in this camp for many years now. Daniel's wife is today a shattered woman, with serious ailments, but no scope for treatment by a specialist.