In the village of Muttakkad in the district of Kanchipuram, ActionAid found 23 Irula families forced out of the main camp by the fisher folk.

We met one-year-old Ajid and his mother in the camp. She had managed to cling on to her son, when the tsunami hit. While we were with them, there was a whisper that relief had arrived, and she darted off to try and salvage some food. Their only choice is to scavenge for leftovers, as the fisherfolk don’t allow them access to supplies. They have also been restricted from accessing medical camps.

The government has not responded to the issue of discrimination within relief camps. In fact they have threatened to evict the Irulas from relief camps because of the perceived threat they pose. They have also given Irulas significantly less compensation than that promised to the fisher folk because of the perception that they had nothing to lose in the first place.

ActionAid distributed family packs of food (rice and vegetables) to the marginalised Irula people. We are working with local organisations to ensure that in the coming days and weeks there will be somebody visiting the camp to ensure relief is getting through to everyone.

We are also working with the ‘Irula Tribal Women's Welfare Society’ (ITWWS), an NGO working across Tamil Nadu with the scattered Irula tribe, to ensure we reach all marginalised Irulas in the wake of the tsunami. Our long-term strategy will be to facilitate and encourage the Irula representatives to network with other tribal organisations across South India to strengthen the tribal voice at the national level.