When Displacement Is A Form Of Human Rights Violation

"All authorities and international actors shall respect and ensure respect for their obligations under international law, including human rights and humanitarian law, in all circumstances, so as to prevent and avoid conditions that might lead to displacement of persons."

The resumption of heavy fighting in the provinces of Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao and North Cotabato between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government forces during the months of March and April has again forced hundreds of thousands of civilian population – Christians, Muslims and Lumads – to evacuate their homes and destroyed millions of worth of houses, farmlands, farm animals, schools, roads and even places of worship.

As of April 24, 2000, some 5,993 families evacuated to 28 evacuation centers in Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.

Meanwhile in Maguindanao and North Cotabato, around 100,000 individuals have already been reportedly displaced due to the fighting that broke out in the early morning of April 28, a few hours after both parties signed on April 27, 2000 an agreement to normalized the situation in Mindanao, to pursue the peace process and to normalize the situation in Narciso Ramos Highway. This was followed by MILF's unilateral declaration of suspension of peace talks on April 30 and of President Estrada's declaration of an "all-out-war". As expected, evacuation centers were filled to the brim with new evacuees.

Indeed, the almost three-year peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have been going around in circles because of the two parties' irreconcilable frameworks. In the meantime, displacement of families and destruction of structures and livelihood sources continue.

It is a fact that this armed conflict affects the welfare, physical safety and psychological condition of the evacuees. Stories about the horrors of war in Mindanao are always reported in the tri-media. Yet, it seems that they fall on deaf ears because to this day this war continues and the main actors are still far from reaching a common solution. Whatever their reasons are for their military actions, both are duty-bound and called upon by international human rights and humanitarian laws to protect the human rights, welfare and security of the affected and would-be affected population. To ignore this, is to ignore and violate the human rights of the affected individuals.

In the meantime, ECFDC gears itself to attend to the needs of the internally displaced persons. The call for more assistance is still on becausethe war that breeds displacement is not yet over.

Displacement Incidents, January to April 2000

Date(s) of Incidents	Place(s) of Incidents	No.of Incidents	No.of Affected Barangays	No.of Affected Families	Precipitating Factors	Source/Date Reported
Luzon
1.Feb.14, 2000	San Teodoro and Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro	1		499	Fear of being caught in a crossfire	TFD-ST March 2, 2000
Sub-Total		1		499
Mindanao
1.Jan.8-10, 2000	Talayan, Datu Piang and Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao	2	10	2,291	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC-Mindanao, Jan.25, 2000
2.Jan.16, 2000	Bgy.Ned, Lake Sebu, South Cotabato	1	1	399	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC-Mindanao
3.Jan.22, 2000	Glan, Sarangani (Bgy. Gumasa)	1	1	65	Demolition	TFD-SOCSARGEN UNIT, Jan.24, 2000
4.Jan.22, 2000	Surallah, South Cotabato (Bgy. Lampari)	1	1	224	Fear of being caught in the crossfire	ECDFC-Mindanao, Jan.27, 2000
5.Jan.30, 2000	Carmen and Cabacan, North Cotabato	1	9	7000	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC-Mindanao, Feb.1, 2000
6.Feb.11 and Feb.16, 2000	Tiboli, South Cotabato (Bgy. Datal D'lanag)	2	1	360	AFP-NPA clashes and fear of being caught in the crossfire	TFD-Southern Mindano, Feb. 18, 2000
7.Feb.14, 2000	Talayan, Maguindanao	1	4	998	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC-Mindanao, Feb.24, 2000
8.Feb.17, 2000	Kabuntalan, Maguindanao (Bgys. Labio and Galunga)	1	2	301	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC-Mindanao, Feb.24, 2000
9.Feb.18, 2000	Ampatuan, Maguindanao (Bgys.Siniag and Kauran)	1	2	1000	AFP-MILF clashes	ECDFC Mindanao, March 2, 2000
10.March 16, 2000	Lanao del Norte	1	108	30,808	AFP-MILF clashes	DROMIC
11.March 16, 2000	North Cotabato	1	93	14,832	AFP-MILF clashes
12.April 28, 2000	Sultan Kudarat	1	10	1,199	AFP-MILF clashes	DROMIC
13.April 28, 2000	Maguindanao	1	60	18,572	AFP-MILF clashes	May 18, 2000
14.April 28, 2000	Lanao del Sur	1	10	480	AFP-MILF clashes
Sub-Total		16	312	78,529
Grand Total		17	312	79,028

AFP:Armed Forces of the Philippines
NPA: New People's Army
MILF: Moro Islamic Liberation Front
DROMIC: Disaster Response Operation, Monitoring and Information Center
 

The Ecumenical Commission for Displaced Families and Communities (ECFDC)
Established in August 1984, is a non-government, service-oriented organization whose main concerns are to address the issue of internal displacement due to human-made factors in the Philippines, i.e., military-rebel clashes and development aggression, and to assist victims of such displacements.