A journey north along the severely bombed A9 road reveals hundreds of families forced to take refuge on the roadside, finding shelter in the remains of someone else's home.

Trying to survive in houses that no longer have roofs and with what is left of the walls pitted with bullet holes and bearing the scars of heavy artillery fire, it is difficult, if not impossible, to put the past behind them and begin looking forward.

"The whole episode makes me very sad," says Sellaiah Thainabalasingham

Sellaiah and his extended family lived in refugee camps for six months before being released, but have not been able to return to their property.

"When we were getting on the bus to leave the camp, they told us we were going home. We didn't know we were coming here. It's not good enough that we have to live like this."

They have been told they can go back to their farm in two weeks but Sellaiah thinks it will be a lot longer than that.

When they get there, they are expecting to find that they have lost all of their possessions.

According to the army, the population remaining inside the refugee camps stands at just under 100,000. At its peak, it was more than a quarter of a million.

pic by: EPA

We were taken inside what is known as Zone Zero for a closely guarded tour. There is a large school, which shapes the minds of the young victims of war.

There are food handouts from international aid agencies and what appeared to be a regular supply of water that is trucked in.

But some of the residents, like Kanakasahai Rukmani, say it is not enough. In tears she told us she just wants to go home.

"They keep promising to send us back, but it never happens. We're struggling here.

“We don't get enough food and we don't have enough clothes."

The residents can now leave temporarily to stay a few nights with nearby friends or relatives, but they still cannot go back to their homes.

In the nearby town of Vavuniya, the population has almost doubled because of the influx of refugees.

At the market, many come to sell the handouts they receive from the aid agencies inside the camps.

"In the camp we only get rice, flour, dhal and oil. We can't cook what we want with that. We don't get any vegetables," says Nallaih Koneswari.

"We don't have jobs either so we come here to sell things like flour to make money to buy better food."