Rameswaram: With the arrival of 102 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees on Thursday, the number of those who fled their homes, following the renewed fighting between the Army and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), has crossed the 1,000 mark.

It was the highest number of refugees to arrive on a single day since January 12, when violence flared up in Sri Lanka.

The first batch of 73 persons belonging to 21 families, including 27 women and 17 children, reached Arichalmunai near Dhanushkodi in three boats from Paysalai in Sri Lanka. All of them reported at the Dhanushkodi police station.

The second batch comprising 14 persons from four families landed at Olaikuda in Rameswaram. They included six women and four children.

They went to the temple police station and expressed their desire to take refuge.

A group of 15, including eight women and two children, reported at the Pampan police station. A fibreglass boat had landed them at Kundhukal near Pampan.

All 102 refugees were from the Thirukadalur area in Trincomalee.

In the past three months, more than 200 people from there have taken refuge in Tamil Nadu.

They claimed that almost 565 families had left their houses due to harassment by the Sri Lankan Army on the one side and the Sinhalese on the other.

"I was living under the fear of death. There was no guarantee for life in Trincomalee area. So I fled my hometown. I don't know how to continue my studies here," said Prashanth (14), son of Vajeeswaran.

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