Communities
exhausted after months of displacement in Zamboanga
By ICRC
July 3, 2014
MANILA – Nine months
after fighting stopped between a faction of the Moro National
Liberation Front and government troops in Zamboanga, a reported 40,000
people remain displaced from their homes, living in difficult
conditions in overcrowded evacuation centres or hosted by relatives
and largely dependent on humanitarian assistance.
Many of the displaced were
trapped in poverty even before the clashes in September last year left
them bereft of their homes and without the few assets they had
possessed.
"Progress has been made in
relocating a number of displaced people to transitional sites around
the city," said Pascal Mauchle, head of the delegation of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Philippines.
"Nevertheless, efforts should continue to ensure that services such as
water supply and sanitation are provided before moving people to these
transitional sites. Especially now with the start of the rainy season,
which will put additional strain on an already vulnerable population."
Poor sanitation practices
and unsuitable facilities in evacuation centres along the Cawa-Cawa
shoreline and the Joaquin Enriquez Stadium, still housing 17,000
displaced, create ideal conditions for the spread of disease.
Working with the Philippine
Red Cross and in conjunction with the local water board, the ICRC is
improving the sanitation and water supply in various evacuation centres and transitional sites. In recent months, the organization has
also sought to strengthen the resilience of the displaced community
through cash-for-work schemes and unconditional cash grants,
benefiting nearly 50,000 people.
"These people struggle every
day to make ends meet. Not knowing when they will be able to resume
their normal lives is a tremendous burden on an already exhausted
community," said Gareth Gleed, the delegate in charge of ICRC
activities in Zamboanga.
Dora Kasim, a beneficiary of
the cash grant programme, explained the ordeal experienced by her
family: "We were living from seaweed farming, but when fighting broke
out we had to flee and leave our home and belongings behind." When she
and her family finally managed to return to their coastal village,
nothing was left. "I was in a daze," said Dora. "Without any money to
start over with, we depended on relief to feed our children. We
received cash from the ICRC and used it to buy seaweed and a new
paddle boat."
While they have slowly
managed to restore their livelihood, Dora’s family doesn't want to be
relocated far from their farm and the children's school because they
can't afford the transport. "It's a choice between feeding our
children and having to pay for public transport. We can’t afford
both," she explained.
In a bid to improve the
overall health situation, the ICRC is refurbishing health stations
damaged in the fighting and providing medicines, other supplies and
technical and financial support to the local health authorities and
the Zamboanga City Medical Center.
In May, the ICRC set up a
nutrition programme for malnourished children under five years of age
and for pregnant and lactating women with a view to reducing the
number of preventable deaths. So far 225 children and 32 women are
being followed under this programme. In addition, multipurpose halls
are being built in three evacuation centres to carry out hygiene
promotion, nutrition and health-care activities.