Marawi residents wait to go home

Thousands still in temporary shelters after five-month siege

MARAWI, the Philippines — Asniah Sultan, 26, fled with her family from the southern Philippine city of Marawi when fighting between government security forces and pro-Islamic State fighters erupted in May last year.

Sultan, with her three children aged 1, 3 and 4 and her husband, were among those who hastily fled the city.

They are now living in a “tent city” in the outskirts of Marawi along with almost 200 families. Their rented house was among those burned down during the fierce fighting that also left more than 1,200 dead.

Before the war broke out, Sultan earns a living by selling fish in the market. “We have been living on dole-outs for a year now,” she said.

On May 23, extremists launched their attack on Marawi City, Lanao del Sur province. Nearly 354,000 residents or more than 77,000 families in and around the besieged area were displaced in the clashes between militants and government forces.

In October, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city liberated after five months of airstrikes and gunbattles.

Humanitarian aid is being distributed to the thousands of people, mostly poor Filipino Muslims, who fled the violence. But conditions are harsh in temporary shelters and many fear they will never be able to return home.

Evacuees receive a pack of goodies that includes six kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef and six coffee sachets every nine days, Sultan said.

Vegetable patches

To augment their food supply, some of the evacuees plant vegetable patches in the evacuation centers.

Once in a while, Sultan said, they get fresh fish. “It’s really miserable living in an evacuation center. Even drinking water is scarce sometimes,” she said.

Her husband cannot find a job. Duterte imposed martial rule in the entire Mindanao region in the wake of the siege, making it difficult for male residents to move around for security reasons.

Unlike the other displaced residents, the Sultans do not own a house. They were just renting an apartment, they said, making them less likely to return to their village after the rehabilitation is completed.

Felix Castro, the assistant secretary of Urban Development Coordinating Council and the manager of the Task Force Bangon Marawi Field Office, said there are still 39,000 families who have not returned to their homes.

Some of them are staying with relatives in Marawi and nearby provinces. Some 1,000 families are living in 41 evacuation centers, he said.

Authorities hope the rehabilitation work inside the former battleground will be completed by 2021.

Castro said the government is still trying to find a contractor to clear the debris in the city’s central business district, which the military calls the “most affected area”.

The military said there are still an estimated 50 unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive devices in that part of the city that need to be cleared.

“The biggest challenge is taking care of the IDPs (internally displaced people) while they are still waiting for the chance to rebuild their houses considering the time that will take,” Castro said.

He said the government is looking at projects for the evacuees to help them earn an income.

Sultan welcome the idea but she stressed the need for the government to provide capital.

“We cannot rely on doleouts. We also need cash to pay for our other needs which are not provided to us, like diapers for our children,” Sultan said.

It’s really miserable living in an evacuation center. Even drinking water is scarce sometimes.”

Asniah Sultan,