15,000 refugees out in the open

Families huddled under trees and slept in bullock carts on Saturday as accommodation ran out for over 15,000 Muslim men, women and children fleeing Sri Lanka8217;s bloodiest battle in four years. The first ones to get out of the coastal Muslim town of Muttur were holed up in four schools here where hundreds of Sinhalese were already living as refugees after Tiger rebels cut off their water supplies last month.

8216;8216;We have no place to go8212;that8217;s why we8217;re sleeping here,8217;8217; a Muslim man said as he sheltered under his bullock cart that brought his family as well as neighbours along a 45-kilometre road to this farming town.

More troops and police were seen in the town providing security to the refugees, some of whom used plastic sheets to set up makeshift shelters.