The 1981 anti-Tamil pogrom occurred in Sri Lanka during the months of June, July and August 1981. Organised Sinhalese mobs looted and burnt Tamil shops and houses in Jaffna, Ratnapura, Balangoda, Kahawatta, Colombo and in the border villages in the Batticaloa and Ampara Districts. Further looting, arson and killings then spread to the rural interior:"In the hill country, crowds armed with clubs, iron rods, bicycle chains, swords and knives roamed the estates burning, pillaging, looting and killing. Police and army units stood watching, often encouraging the rioters. In the eastern border villages, entire villages were burnt down. People ran into the forests to save their lives. They then took refuge in government schools and Hindu temples. Over 25,000 Tamil plantation workers were rendered homeless in the hills and over 10,000 villagers were made refugees in the east."