This summary outlines the main findings
of the newly updated country profile on internal displacement in the Philippines.
The profile was prepared by the Global IDP Project of the Norwegian Refugee
Council, which monitors and analyses internal displacement in over 50 countries
worldwide. The full country profile is available from the Project's Database
(www.idpproject.org),
or upon request by e-mail (idpproject@nrc.ch).
It has now been a year since more than
400,000 civilians in the Philippines were forced to leave their homes and
livelihoods, once again displaced by fighting between the government security
forces and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The large-scale displacement
took place on the southern island of Mindanao, and in particular in the
Muslim-populated areas where a major military operation was launched against
an MILF camp near Pikit town in February 2003. More clashes took place
in December 2003 displacing a further 20,000 people. While the main displacements
were due to fighting between the military and the MILF, operations against
the separatist Abu Sayyaf group, ongoing since 2001, have also continued
to displace people in the region. By early March 2004, the vast majority
of the displaced had left the evacuation centres where they had sought
refuge and were able to return home, but an unknown number of people are
still staying with relatives and friends. Many displaced are reluctant
to return to areas that are still highly militarised and where landmines
and frequent skirmishes undermine their safety. Others are still waiting
for the government to help them rebuild homes destroyed during the conflict.
Some 3,000 families in Mindanao were still homeless in early 2004. Most
returnees struggle for their daily survival in an environment of economic
depression where there are few opportunities for earning a living. Only
a political solution, including provisions for the return and reintegration
of IDPs and accompanied by strong anti-poverty and development measures
for Mindanao, is likely to put an end to the conflict and ensure that the
affected people will not enter another cycle of displacement and destitution.
Background and main causes of displacement
The conflict in Mindanao is the result of a general underdevelopment of the region, the unequal distribution of wealth, and the lack of sufficient effort by the central government to integrate the Muslim population into the political and institutional fabric of the country. The rich reserves of untapped natural resources and raw materials of Mindanao, in particular in the Muslim (or "Moro") areas, have provided a strong incentive for the government to fight the Muslim secessionist movements there since the 1970s (Oxfam, November 2000, pp. 4-5).
In 1996, an agreement between the government and the rebel Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) was signed, providing for a ceasefire and for the creation of a priority development zone comprising 14 provinces and ten cities considered to be the poorest in the country. It was hoped that this agreement would put an end to the conflict, but by 2000 an increasing number of militants were leaving the MNLF to join the more radical MILF, which was not party to the 1996 agreement. It signed an agreement with the government on a general cessation of hostilities in 1997, but this ceasefire was repeatedly violated.
As a result of the "all-out war" declared by President Joseph Estrada on the MILF in March 2000, fighting rapidly spread to most regions of Mindanao and by August 2000, an estimated 800,000 to one million people had been forced to flee their homes (UNDP 13 November 2000 p. 4).
A ceasefire was signed in June 2001 between the MILF and the government and was reinforced two months later by the establishment of guidelines explicitly providing for the return and rehabilitation of the displaced (or "evacuees"). Implementing guidelines, adopted in 2002, further operationalised this agreement.
Resumption of violence and displacement in Mindanao
In February 2003, when communities in Mindanao were just starting to regain enough confidence to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, the government launched a massive military operation against an MILF camp near Pikit, North Cotabato, accusing the Front of providing sanctuary to the Pentagon Group, a kidnap-for-ransom gang.
With combat resuming, hundreds of thousands of people, often the same ones who had already been forced to flee in 2000, were drawn into yet another cycle of displacement. Intense bombardments, burning of houses and a significant militarisation of the area triggered massive evacuations of people to safer places. An estimated 411,000 persons were displaced between February and May 2003 (DSWD 9 October 2003).
Since the February 2003 fighting, the government and the MILF have held several rounds of exploratory talks with a view to reviving the formal peace talks and resuming implementation of the May 2002 agreement. A ceasefire was agreed in July 2003 and Malaysia offered its good offices in search of a political solution. During the talks, both parties reiterated their commitment to the political settlement of the conflict, return of the evacuees, and rehabilitation of the affected areas.
Despite renewed fighting in December 2003 and the subsequent displacement of over 20,000 in Maguindanao province, the government and the MILF are moving towards resuming formal peace talks (DSWD 25 March 2004). At the end of February 2004, the MILF and the government met in Malaysia and agreed on the deployment of a Malaysia-led international ceasefire monitoring team (IMT) in Mindanao at the end of April. The formal peace talks are to resume upon the arrival of the IMT (Reuters 31 March 2004).
Majority of the displaced have gone home
Those displaced during 2003 were often the same people who were forced to flee three years ago, during President Estrada's campaign against the MILF. They are usually peasants fleeing their homes in fear of being caught in the crossfire or after being ordered to leave by the military. The vast majority of the displaced are Muslims. Other reasons for fleeing include the fear of being persecuted by the army for being a MILF or Aby Sayyaf member or sympathiser. Most of the displaced are children and women. Men tend either to be conscripted to join the MILF or leave their families in order to avoid conscription (WB 3 March 2003, p. 12).
Internally displaced people have sought refuge in neighbouring villages and in the principal metropolitan centres. They have been sheltered in evacuation centres, schoolrooms, mosques, chapels and other public buildings. The main areas of displacement during the 2000 war were Maguindanao, Sulu, Lanao del Norte, North Cotabato and Marawi City (WB 3 March 2003, p. 13). During 2003, the areas hardest hit by the fighting and displacement were again more or less the same. Figures provided by the Department of Social Welfare and Development indicated that as of October 2003 a total of 411,000 people had been forced to leave their homes since the beginning of the year. Some 166,000 people sought shelter and protection inside 276 evacuation centres while an estimated 245,000 other displaced persons found refuge with relatives or friends. Eight months after the eruption of violence, some 64,000 people were still displaced, the vast majority accommodated outside evacuation centres with friends and relatives (DSWD 9 October 2003).
Although the evacuation centres are now officially closed, hundreds of families reportedly continue to live in these centres, unable or unwilling to return (Balay 26 April 2004/PRWeb 9 March 2004). At least 3,000 families are waiting for the government to help them rebuild their houses and are thus homeless, most of them staying with relatives and friends (Mindanews 28 January 2004).
The continued presence of MILF or government forces in villages of origin, the limited housing and the traumatic memories of the violence and destruction the displaced have witnessed or endured are among the reasons for not returning.
Protection
During his visit at the end of 2002, the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on IDPs, Francis Deng, was particularly concerned by the gap in the protection needs of the displaced and the returnees, who generally felt isolated and neglected (CHR 3 February 2003, p. 12).
The presence of landmines and unexploded ordnance near villages and on land the displaced are returning to is putting their lives at risk and hindering their rehabilitation. Many of the displaced are farmers and are dependent on access to their land for survival (The Inquirer 18 March 2004). Landmines are used by at least three rebel groups: the MILF, the New People's Army and the Aby Sayyaf. Provinces most affected by landmines are Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and Cotabato, where the camps of the MILF are located and where most of the fighting took place in 2000 and 2003.
In Pagalungan, Maguindanao province, an assessment conducted in July 2003 showed that the continued presence of the army near the homes of the returnees was limiting their freedom of movement. Residents are required to log in and out to gain access to their lands, which limits the times they can harvest their crops (Bantay Ceasefire Investigative Mission 1 August 2003).
A fact-finding mission conducted by a coalition of national human rights NGOs visited Pikit in February 2003 to investigate reports of alleged human rights violations committed by government forces during the military offensive against the MILF. The mission documented numerous cases, including forced evacuations, indiscriminate bombing, summary executions and looting of properties (Bulatlat 15 March 2003).
The activities of the armed rebel groups also constituted a threat to civilians. Rebels were allegedly behind the burning of houses and government buildings and have used civilians as human shields (Balay 24 March 2003).
The counter-insurgency campaign underway in southwestern Mindanao, in particular on the islands of Jolo and Sulu since September 2000, has intensified since the deployment of US soldiers in Basilan in January 2002. During 2002 and 2003, the army presence was reinforced and increasing numbers of "anti-terrorist" military operations have continued against the Abu Sayyaf, forcing many civilians out of their homes (Manila Times 15 July 2003).
Returnees need more assistance to rebuild their lives
War and displacement have greatly disrupted the lives of the people in Mindanao. Prior to the eruption of violence in 2000, Mindanao, and in particular the Muslim-populated Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), already ranked among the poorest regions of the country (WB 3 March 2003, p. 9).
Displaced women and children were among those most directly and adversely affected by the violence and displacement. They constituted the majority of the displaced in the overcrowded evacuation centres where they had to struggle to make ends meet. Conditions in centres were generally described as inadequate, with poor medical facilities and sanitation, resulting in health risks for the most vulnerable. Prolonged stays in the evacuation centres exposed IDP children - reported to constitute 60 to 70 per cent of the displaced - to ailments such as bronchopneumonia, ulcers, diarrhoea and measles (The Manila Times 29 May 2003). Insufficient assistance meant that often all members of the family, including children, had to help out and find work outside the centres, usually working as daily labourers in neighbouring farms (CFSI October 2003, p. 36).
The returnees face many challenges upon return to their communities. They include lack of housing, food scarcity, lack of sources of livelihood, poor water and sanitation conditions, lack of farm inputs, lack of access to health facilities and poor education facilities for their children.
The government estimates that the fighting damaged close to 7,000 houses in the months following the February 2003 operation (DSWD 22 July 2003). Although reconstruction of houses and the building of new shelters have started, by early 2004 only 2,935 houses had been completed, or just a little over 50 per cent of the targeted 5,800 core shelter units. Lack of funding was cited as the cause of the delay (Mindanews 28 January 2004). However, there were also reports that funds intended for the construction of shelters had gone missing (Sun Star 5 February 2004).
The difficulties of the returnees in rebuilding a livelihood and providing for their families are further compounded by higher food prices in conflict-affected areas. This results from the lack of food production, as well as difficulties in distribution and delivery, thus creating higher demand and lower supply. Inflation is expected to particularly impact on the most vulnerable in the conflict-affected areas, especially the displaced who lack food supplies and cash (The Mindanao Times 19 December 2003).
The most commonly cited health problems are malaria and diarrhoea. There are some health services available in the Rural Health Centres, but for many IDPs they are too far away from their homes. This is seen as a significant problem by the evacuees themselves (CFSI October 2003, p.32).
Psychological trauma and stress due to the violence and sudden displacement, often accompanied by destruction or looting of property and means of livelihoods, was reported as a serious concern (Balay 24 March 2003). A field investigation conducted in early 2004 in Maguindanao province, where fighting had displaced some 20,000 at the end of 2003, revealed that the residents were still afraid of a resumption of violence and that they exhibited signs of extreme trauma (IID 18 January 2004).
Prior to the fighting and displacement, levels of education were already very low in the ARMM region. Government figures put the proportion of children aged 15 years or more who had not completed even one year of schooling at close to 28 per cent while the national average was 4 per cent. Most of the children lucky enough to be enrolled in school have had their education disrupted by the war and displacement. Upon return, many families need the support of their children to survive and cannot afford to put them back in school. Education is seen by the displaced themselves as a clear priority and sometimes as important as food and medical needs (CFSI October 2003, p. 12).
Assistance to IDPs
The government has responded to the displacement mainly through the National Disaster Coordinating Council, which coordinated the actions of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the Office of Civil Defence, the National Red Cross and local governments (CHR 3 February 2003, p. 12). Complementing the efforts of the government, many civil society bodies, including local NGOs and church organisations, have participated in the relief and rehabilitation efforts, often filling the assistance gaps resulting from the incapacity of the national institutions to comprehensively respond to the needs of all the displaced. As was noted by the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative, there are often gaps between the positive intentions and statements made by the government on behalf of the evacuees and their practical implementation on the ground (CHR 3 February 2003, p. 12).
In response to this gap, a coalition of NGOs in partnership with the UN, donors and INGOs established in March 2004 the Mindanao Emergency Response Network. This network, composed of 36 organisations, most of them local NGOs, intends to help consolidate the response to emergencies by providing emergency management training to its members and by delivering assistance to the displaced (PRWeb 9 March 2004).
The set of guidelines for the cessation of hostilities agreed upon by the government and the MILF in August 2001 provides for the safe return of IDPs to villages of origin. In May 2002 the government and the MILF further consolidated the agreement by signing the "Implementing Guidelines on the Rehabilitation aspect of the Tripoli Agreement on Peace of 2001" (GRP-MILF 7 May 2002). In addition to the safe return of IDPs, the agreement provides for financial and technical assistance to the displaced to rebuild their houses and livelihoods and reparations awarded by the government for the properties lost and/or destroyed by the conflict. The Bangsamoro Development Agency, a MILF-controlled body, was tasked in 2003 to implement development and rehabilitation projects in the conflict-affected areas (Mindanews 30 March 2003).
Since 2001 ceasefires have been repeatedly violated and fighting and displacements have prevented full implementation of the guidelines. Continued military presence and insecurity in many areas of Mindanao and the resumption of large-scale fighting last year have disrupted many rehabilitation programmes conducted by national and international NGOs.
Under a government-UN Multi-Donor Programme, now in its third phase, the international community and the UN have over the past few years been assisting the conflict-affected region of Mindanao by providing emergency relief assistance to the displaced and assistance to communities to foster rehabilitation. They have also provided the authorities at the national and local level with assistance to deal with humanitarian emergencies.
In early 2004, the UNDP and the European Commission have agreed to implement an 18-month rehabilitation project benefiting people displaced by armed conflicts in Mindanao, particularly in the provinces most hit by the fighting and destruction. The project is aimed at addressing the rehabilitation and resettlement requirements of some 10,000 displaced families by providing basic services, including enhancing their capacity for earning a living and improved infrastructures (UNDP 14 January 2004). The implementation of the project is preceded by a needs assessment survey conducted by the World Bank (Government of the Philippines 2 February 2004).
The United States, while offering financial and logistic support to the government's "war on terror", has on the other hand committed itself to help rehabilitate the conflict-affected areas of Mindanao. Last year the US government pledged $356 million in security-related assistance to the Philippines, most of it in support of the "war on terror" and to conduct joint military exercises in the south of Mindanao where the Abu Sayyaf remains active. Out of this amount, $20 million will be spent to promote the peace process with the MILF, another $20 million on programmes for former MNLF rebels, and $30 million in economic assistance for Mindanao (The Inquirer 27 May 2003).
With the formal peace talks between the MILF and the government to resume in Malaysia, both parties have to reiterate their commitment to end the war and to facilitate the return and rehabilitation of the displaced. Only a political solution, accompanied by strong anti-poverty and development measures for Mindanao is likely to put an end to the conflict and ensure that the conflict-affected people will not enter another cycle of displacement and destitution.
The country profile includes all references to the sources and documents used.