The Union of Catholic Asian News reported Wednesday that the refugees are leaving evacuation centers in Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Piang in Maguindanao.
It said the refugees, who were brought to the centers due to fighting between soldiers and a faction of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), are being returned to their homes in Pagatin town in Maguindanao.
A team of 30 Christian and Muslim volunteers, organized by Oblates of Mary Immaculate Father Eduardo Vasquez, collected food and supplies from parishioners and neighbors to sustain the evacuees as they return.
They also received supplies bought with donations from Mindanao Emergency Response Network (MERN) and well wishers from the United Kingdom, the same report said.
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said this transfer is "just the beginning" of a process to bring all evacuees back to normal life.
Sinarimbo added the regional government aims to return every one of 16,131 displaced families back home.
At a farewell ceremony for the refugees, the UCAN report quoted Sinarimbo as promising to "exert every resource and effort possible to bring you all back to your homes, recover from the losses and regain the potential that may make your young family members become better citizens."
The United Nations Act for Peace (UNAFP) has committed to build 150 new core shelters and restore a health center at the refugees’ destination, while relief groups Mindanao Tulong Bakwit and MERN are helping to construct water pump and toilet facilities.
Peace talks between the MILF and government were stalled in 2008 following the Supreme Court's junking of a memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD). Both sides have since undertaken efforts to resume formal peace negotiations. — RSJ/LBG
Refugees in a Global Era - 2006 publication
