Activists urge action on Philippines’ internal refugees

(April 23, 2012) Religious groups and human rights advocates in the Philippines began a two-day conference on Monday that aims to call attention to the plight of internal refugees from conflict areas in the country. Led by the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan) and the Ecumenical Mission for Peace and Development, the Conference on Internally Displaced Persons is being held at the Christ the King seminary in Quezon City to address the alleged militarization of the countryside which they say has led to a the growing number of internal refugees. “When people are forced to leave their homes they lose their livelihoods because they abandon the land they till,” said Karapatan spokesperson Cristina Palabay at the opening of the conference. She said children’s schools and places of religious worship are also converted into military camps, thereby violating their right to education and right to freedom of worship. She said at least 6,500 people have been forced to evacuate since the counter-insurgency drive called Oplan Bayanihan was adopted by the Aquino administration in 2010. Among the delegates at the conference is Maricel Salem, a volunteer teacher at the Center for Lumad Advocacy and Services in Sarangani province, an alternative school whose operations are often disrupted by threats, harassment and the intimidation of children, their parents and the tribal community.