Life in the Mandapam camp, the refugees allege, is extremely hard, but they are thankful to have escaped the bloodletting in northern Sri Lanka. The new arrivals are debriefed in the camp, the oldest of 129 such settlements in Tamil Nadu. They are grilled for three days to ensure they are not members of the Tamil rebel group. Then they are given rice cards that entitle them to subsidized food and are allowed to live in the camp. Rows of small single-story structures line the camp.
Some families have two-room accommodation, each room no more than one by two meters.
Others have just one room, where, in some cases, up to five people live. 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.