Caritas Jaffna is struggling to pick up the pieces, providing temporary shelter, food, water and sanitation.

The Sri Lankan government has been under intense international pressure to speed up the rehousing of about 260,000 displaced people who have been held in camps across the north since fighting ended in May.

But the rushed program over the past few months to resettle the detainees in the Jaffna peninsula and other parts "has resulted in havoc" due to the lack of proper shelters in the monsoon, Father Christopher George Jayakumar, the head of Caritas' Human Development center (HUDEC) Jaffna told UCA News.

Transport problems and the failure to complete a de-mining operation are compounding problems.

Families are being transported to the Jaffna sports stadium where they have to queue to register with the military and have their baggage checked. They then must get a pass to enter the city. They are given 5,000 rupees (US$50) as "pocket money," and an additional 20,000 rupees by the government's rehabilitation ministry to rebuild their lives.

After that they rely mostly on charity for support.

"Most have lost their life savings. They are dependent on the Church," said Father Jayakumar. "Needs are very high and we need help."

One refugee, Anton Jayasekaram with a family of five, told UCA News that the government cash hand-out is woefully inadequate.

"It's an insulting amount. No amount of money is going to undo what has been done to us by war," said Jayasekaram, formerly a textile businessman from Pallai, about 30 kilometers from Jaffna city. But he said his family was at least happy about returning to Jaffna from their refugee camp.

The Church is doing what it can to rebuild livelihoods, providing fishing nets, sewing machines and loans of up to 40,000 rupees, as well as assisting in school admissions for children.

But local churches, some damaged in the fighting, are struggling to cope with the homeless.

"These people have come from one form of suffering to another. It is endless to them," said parish priest of St James church, Father RCX Nesarajah.

Military spokesman Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, said the authorities' job is made harder by the need to clear mines laid by the rebel Tamil Tigers.

"We have no records of where the mines have been laid," he told local media. "We have to consider each and every inch of the land as being mined to ensure that the whole area is de-mined before resettlement."

Official records say that 140,087 persons remain in camps, while 159,913 others have been resettled.

John Holmes, the United Nations' humanitarian chief, praised the government's new resettlement efforts during a three-day visit to Sri Lanka.

The education ministry has also sent a special team of teachers to assist displaced students taking national examinations in December.