WFP official alarmed of growing clash displaced in Mindanao

Updated May 15, 2009 12:00 AM

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Philippines (Xinhua) - A United Nation representative to the Philippines yesterday said he was alarmed by the increasing number of families being displaced by continuous fighting between government troops and Muslim rebels in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

"We hope that the situation will return to normal. But in the last few weeks there's another upsurge of fighting in the region, which we are concerned about because this is causing new displacement," Stephen Anderson, United Nation's World Food Programme Country Director and Representative in the Philippines told Xinhua after a day trip to evacuation camps in the central Mindanao.

The UN official said that the military operation against Ameril Umbra Kato, a field commander of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with $283,949.00-bounties for his arrest, has left at least 45,000 families temporarily fleeing home in war zones.

Last year, violence escalated in Mindanao due to aborted signing of the homeland deal between the MILF and the government. More than 600,000 people were displaced at the height of clashes.

"We are concerned of the daily artillery and bombings as well the impact on the ground," Anderson said.

The WFP, the world's largest humanitarian agency, aims to feed around 100 million people in 77 countries and regions this year.

A day before Anderson's trip, state security forces dropped bombs on Muslim rebels positions, prompting thousands of civilians to flee for safety concerns.

Peace talks between the government and the 11,800-member MILF collapsed in August 2008 after the two sides failed to sign an agreement on ancestral domain, prompting some rebel commanders to launch deadly attacks on Christian communities in Mindanao.

The ancestral domain issue refers to the MILF's demand for territory that will constitute a Muslim homeland.

It is the last remaining hurdle for a final political settlement that is expected to end the four decades of Muslim insurgency that has claimed more than 120,000 lives. Once signed, both sides are expected to work towards a final peace deal that would include plans for the future of the MILF rebels.