Mindanao, the second largest island in the Philippines, has been a battleground between government forces and radical Islamists for four decades. Recent massive fighting erupted after the ancestral domain agreement for an expanded Muslim land in Mindanao was judged illegal by the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The Muslims are deemed not rightful owners of Philippine ancestral domain since Islam is as much a colonizer as the other colonizers of the country were. The radical Islamists detested the decision. As they are wont to do when they don’t achieve their political ambition, they resort to one thing they know best – terroristic attacks. These sent thousands of refugees fleeing from their provinces and into refugee camps.
These displaced people, numbering more than half a million at the height of the fighting as estimated by Amnesty International, refuse to go back to their homes until the fear that grips the provinces has ebbed. But radical Islamists are hell-bent in pursuing their political agenda. Sporadic clashes still occur since the Islamist group has some renegade commands that simply will not oblige for a ceasefire. Thus, a stalemate has ensued and the displaced people, now about less than 50 percent of the biggest volume it once had, continue to live in fear and anxiety in evacuation camps.
The camps, however, have been largely dependent on aid. Humanitarian groups have since been helping but it would be logical to conclude that aid should be running out by now. Add to that are the poor health and sanitary conditions present in these evacuation camps. Refugees have suffered from diarrhea and high fever. With aid getting scarcer and scarcer, refugees find out that life and death in camps are really no different from those in their war-torn provinces.
Via International Herald Tribune
