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A year after siege, Marawi evacuees ask to be allowed to return home

May 23, 2018 | 11:49am

A year after siege, Marawi evacuees ask to be allowed to return home

In this Friday, June 9, 2017, photo, evacuees stay at a crowded evacuation center on the outskirts of Marawi city, southern Philippines. Nearly every day for the past three weeks, the Philippine military has pounded the lakeside town of Marawi with rockets and bombs as it tries to wipe out militants linked to the Islamic State group in some of the most protracted urban combat to hit this volatile region in decades.

AP / Aaron Favila

MANILA, Philippines — It has already been a year since Maute terrorists sieged Marawi City but its residents still live in make-shift tents, evacuations centers or temporary shelters.

Tindeg Ranao, an organization of Marawi evacuees, called out the Philippine government for its plans to convert the wartorn city into a military reserve and an ecozone, which does not consider the welfare of about 400,000 residents who have lost their homes.

"Tindeg Ranao calls for everyone who wants to join the fight of the Meranao. We want to go back to our own land and rebuild Marawi with our own manner and strength," the group said in a statement.

The group narrated how the Armed Forces of the Philippines supposedly held a "humanitarian blockade" against supporters of the evacuees or the "bakwit."

The military only released relief goods to evacuation centers when they agreed to put up a tarpaulin stating "We Support Martial Law," according to Tinder Ranao.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared that Marawi has been liberated from ISIS-inspired local terror groups in October 2017 but there are still cases of forced disappearances, forcible entries in households, warrantless arrests and other human rights violations under the military, the group said.

The evacuees' group also accused the government of prioritizing businessmen and foreigners for the rehabilitation of Marawi, which is why residents have not been allowed to return to their homes.

"The real ones who were liberated during this period were the support of several government agencies in sending help to the victims as the war was 'over.' But the evacuees do not only face war – they struggle every day for their family's survival," Tindeg Ranao said.

The group condemned Task Force Bangon Marawi's "Kambisita" program where seven members of each family were allowed to visit what was left of their destroyed homes.

"In the face of the Meranao's anger, the government deployed reactionary police and soldiers to prevent the residents. It appears like the Meranao deliberately gave up their land in the hands of the government," the group said.

The League of Filipino Students - Northern Mindanao Region shared the same sentiments regarding the government's supposed plan to turn over Marawi to business corporations and foreign companies.

The youth group warned that the government was using the declaration of martial law to "continually persecute the people of Marawi even after the siege."

"Martial law has become a curtain to cover the economic interests of foreign corporations and a blanket to silence to the people who dare to defy," LFS Northern Mindanao chair Kristine Cabardo said.

A group of concerned Maranaos earlier appealed to Duterte to stop the planned establishment of an economic zone and a military camp in the Lanao del Sur capital as the residents have been "largely left out" in the plans to rebuild the city.

"Plans have been made without our participation. Plans that neither bear the stamp of our will nor reflect our culture. Plans whose mechanics and implementation are not clear to us. But one thing is clear: the people of Marawi are largely left out," civilian group Ranaw Multi-Sectoral Movement said.

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