14 Apr 2020

Over the past four weeks, the world’s focus has been on the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 10 April 2020, more than 4,000 people in the Philippines have been affected. There have been 221 people who succumbed to the disease while only 140 people recovered.

In other places in the Philippines, families face not just the threat of COVID-19, but also the threat of protracted and renewed displacement.

FAMILIES CONTINUE FLEE DUE TO FIGHTING

In Mindanao, families continue to flee in the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the report of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Officer (MDRRMO), approximately 4,500 individuals from three baranagays have been forced to flee their homes in Maguindanao last 12 April 2020. Just a day earlier, fighting broke out between factions that displaced more than 500 individuals in Sitio Panso in Barangay Muti, Mindanao.

This renewed displacement was caused by renewed fighting between clans that have affiliations armed groups. The families were forced to seek refuge with their relatives in five different barangays in Datu Salibuand Shariff Saydona.

This fighting has caused immense fear and insecurity among the most vulnerable populations. Families who have previously returned to their homes have preemptively fled again in order to ensure their safety.

This pandemic is currently the forefront emergency and it affects millions of families. For forcibly-displaced families, they are living in the midst of an emergency on top of an emergency.