Decent living conditions remain a mirage for residents of Thiruvathavur refugee camp

Despite being declared ODF, Sri Lankan refugee camp in Madurai lacks proper sanitation, posing serious health risks for residents.

Despite Madurai district having been declared open defecation-free (ODF) in 2017, the conditions inside the Sri Lankan refugee camp at Thiruvathavur in Melur taluk look otherwise, says an activist. 

Though a large number of people, 555 families - 943 men, 800 women and 289 children - reside there, toilet facilities for this many are very poor in the camp, says A. Veronica Mary, a health activist based in Madurai. 

These are longtime residents of the camp - they have been living there all these years without basic facilities such as good sanitation and housing facilities.  For the more than 2,000 residents, only 20 toilets are in usable condition. 

When the camp was opened in 2003, there were seven bathrooms and as many toilets. In 2022, when 30 new concrete houses were built to accommodate more people, 10 additional toilets were constructed.  But, currently not more than 20 toilets are usable.  So, many men, women and children have no other option but to defecate in open spaces, Ms. Mary says.  

This is not merely an issue of insufficient and unhygienic toilets and bathrooms, but a serious health issue for the residents of the camp.  “Women who fall sick frequently suspect that infection from open defecation must be the reason,” she says.  

When a child died from collapse of a poorly-maintained camp building in 2014, the residents thought it will serve as a wake-up call for the officials concerned and hoped for a turnaround of the abysmal conditions in the camp. But it never happened.  So, these people continue to suffer.

Apart from the toilet issue, there is lacunae on many fronts - the houses have asbestos roof which have been proved harmful, untreated water, unclean surroundings... so, the residents - young and old- stand every chance of getting sick.