When we spoke to the chief administrative officer in Batticaloa he claimed that 5.25 million rupees had been set aside for the refugees. Even on this figure, the assistance amounts to only 10 rupees or about 25 US cents per person. As a result, some of the flooded areas are in LTTE-controlled territory and little is known about the fate of flood victims there. Several people told us that according to their relatives, the impact of the flood is even greater than in government-controlled areas, where villagers have some access to basic supplies and medical assistance. People are allowed to move in and out of LTTE-controlled areas, but it is mainly the elderly who do so to sell their produce.
Soldiers check through bags for any banned goods, including diesel, petrol or kerosene.
In the government-controlled Batticaloa district, at least 10,000 houses have been washed away and tens of thousands more have been damaged. Large areas of paddy field have been destroyed along with other crops, raising the prospect of starvation. We visited Eravur Sittandi, a peasant village 13 kilometres from Batticaloa town, where 415 families took refuge at the Sittandi Vandarmolle Tamil college. On the way there, on both sides of the highway from Batticaloa, all the houses we saw were abandoned as a result of the war. Some of the abandoned houses were used as army posts.