Thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the North-East have been affected by heavy flooding in the area reports ucanews.com, with many at risk of starvation.
Charity Sister Nicola Emmanuel, a Catholic nun who runs a program for Tamil war widows said the IDPs "live in low lying areas and the wells that they have dug for drinking water have caved in because of the floods".
"They are on the verge of becoming homeless again and risk becoming victims of starvation," she said
The district secretary of Mullaitivu R. Ketheeswaran said 2,000 were affected by the floods.
The Sri Lankan government is yet to provide assistance said the IDPs, with one woman telling ucanews.com, "In 1996 my husband was shot dead by the army while he was working in a paddy field and since then we have lived in camps”.
"My vegetable plot and hens have now also been destroyed by floods but there is no assistance from the government," added K. Irudayarani. "An Indian government project is building a new house for us but it is still incomplete," she said.
One widowed mother of three children spoke of how the suffering added to their hardships ahead of Christmas festivities.
"My younger son asked for a Christmas tree but it costs more than 3,000 rupees (US$21) so I will just use a tree branch to make him happy," said Mary Stella.
"Our houses are under water," she added. "I don't really have presents for my children and relatives. We only ask God for strength to face the difficulties."