Mindanao refugees issue so complex — UN body

The displacement of Mindanao residents due to fighting between government forces and secessionist rebels has become a complex situation, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has admitted. Bernard Kerblat, Operations Manager of UNHCR in Manila, admitted this in a meeting with the Malaysia-led International Monitoring Team (IMT) in Cotabato City. “Certainly, there is a complex situation and big number of individuals who are still displaced," he said during the meeting, according to an article posted Thursday on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Website. "Presently, we are on listening mode but we are keen on doing short-term, immediate and doable measures leading to a relatively comprehensive plan of action for refugees," he added. The meeting in Cotabato City last Wednesday aimed to discuss concerns on people forced to flee their homes because of the fighting in Mindanao. Kerblat and his Japanese colleague attended the meeting. Representing the IMT were Maj. Gen. Datuk Baharum Bin Hamzah, Head of Mission, and his chief of staff and secretariat. Toks Ebrahim, Chairman of the MILF Ceasefire Committee, and his head of secretariat were also present. Kerblat manifested the intention of the UNHCR to contribute and assist in the overall dynamics on the return of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) in the country, as a result, in particular, of the armed conflict between government forces and the MILF. “We started the work on how to contribute in best possible ways in collaboration and cooperation with government and MILF authorities as well as the civil society organizations working for the return, restitution and rehabilitation of the refugees and IDPs," he said. “We have to start small, little by little and to become an active part of the solution addressing the plight of the refugees and IDPs in Mindanao," he added. He said keeping the refugees and IDPs at the evacuation centers is not an option as this is not safe and dignified. For his part, General Baharum emphasized that coordinated efforts is not an option for all the parties and stakeholders involved, including those whose authorities and responsibilities are confined on coordination and monitoring the implementation of projects and initiatives. “Foremost on this is to ensure that they have shelters, livelihood and properties to return to and that it is already safe for them to return," Baharum said. He also stressed the imperative of having the right data and statistics, among others, the correct beneficiaries and benefits intended for. “How about those refugees and IDPs during the clashes in the years 2000 and subsequently are they not included in the program," he asked. “We will not do the determination of refugees and IDPs but we will work closely with the MILF and government authorities," Kerblat replied, even as he said that UNHCR will work within the framework of the government functions. Both the UNHCR and IMT high officials agreed that the peace process in Mindanao has lured world attention and intervention as the international community wanted to get involved in the process particularly with the return and rehabilitation of the refugees and IDPs Comprised of the governments of Malaysia, Brunei, Libya and Japan, IMT has a yearly mandate of monitoring the implementation of the security, rehabilitation, development and humanitarian aspects of the peace process between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the MILF. Armed conflict between the government and MILF forces resumed in the second half of 2008 after the Supreme Court junked a Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD). The clashes, which only subsided in July 2009, triggered a humanitarian disaster caused by the displacement of more than 600,000 individuals and devastation of the lives and properties and the humanitarian laws. The Norwegian Refugee Council declared the situation of refugees and IDPs in Mindanao as the worst case in the world in 2009. — LBG, GMANews.TV