PHILIPPINES: Rights commission alarmed by Mindanao child evacuees

[MANILA, 27 October 2008] - The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) raised the alarm over what it described as the "deplorable" conditions in evacuation centers for children who make up two-thirds of the more than 500,000 people forced from their homes in the ongoing conflict in Mindanao.

"It was heartbreaking to see that the children did not understand what was happening," CHR commissioner Ma. Victoria Cardona said in a recent interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net).

"On the surface, they laugh and play. But the trauma returns at night," Cardona said.

"What is often overlooked is the condition of the children in evacuation centers and the impact [the conflict and their displacement] has on these children," she said.

Cardona was part of the CHR special mission that visited evacuation centers in five Mindanao provinces at the height of fighting between the Armed Forces and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) units accused of attacking civilian communities in August.

Government institutions such as the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) should give importance to the plight of internally displaced peoples, or IDPs, equal to that given victims of natural calamities, said Cardona.

"We're calling the attention of the proper departments of government. We hope they would also place the [same] importance they are giving to natural disasters, to man-made disasters, such as this armed conflict," she said.

The difference in the government’s responses to natural disasters and the Mindanao conflict was "glaring," Cardona said, pointing out that, aside from the half a million people displaced by the fighting, there are also many others indirectly affected by the conflict.

"They should not just focus on natural disasters. When there's a typhoon, we see our national officials on TV, wearing jackets and talking about how to protect the lives of the people," she said.

In a tent or evacuation center, Cardona said the "conservative estimate" ratio between children and adults was 2:1,m ranging from days-old newborns up to school-age children.

The children could not sleep comfortably at night, the supply of mats was scant, and most had mosquito bites, she recalled.

Those who still managed to go to schools with water facilities were the lucky ones who could take a bath there, but those left at the evacuation centers the entire day ended up either dirty or suffering from skin diseases.

While most of the evacuees the CHR special mission met in August had already returned home, Cardona raised the possibility of their return to the evacuation centers if hostilities resume in their communities.

Although the special mission did note some good practices by a few local government units (LGUs), Cardona said the majority lacked planning and a proper system for effectively addressing the needs of the evacuees.

"We see the presence of social workers and the LGUs but they appear overwhelmed because there is no planning and system in place. We really have to help each other," Cardona said.

In a speech on the 10th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations Guiding Principles of Internal Displacement celebrated in Oslo, Norway, from October 16 to 17, CHR commissioner Leila de Lima said the agency's Child Rights Center has been monitoring and assessing the situation of the displaced children through the agency’s regional offices, ensuring their rights would be respected and recognised.

De Lima said modules on Child Protection In Times of Emergency have been distributed by the Subcommittee on Children Affected by Armed Conflict and Displacement, an inter-agency body under the Council for the Welfare of the Children of which the CHR is a member.

The objective, she said, would be "to increase the capacities of local social workers and officers of disaster coordinating councils."

Moreover, De Lima said, the CHR designed an "intake form for children" which did focus on children's issues and asked "specifically whether or not the children displaced or affected by armed conflict have been denied humanitarian access."

Further information

• Child soldiers in spotlight as Mindanao battle rages (21 October 2008)
• Philippines: Report on children and armed conflict (CRIN summary, September 2008)