Aiding displaced families in remote areas outside Marawi

A map to show the location of Ditsaan-Ramain and other areas on the east of Lake Lanao that also host displaced families who are in need of support. (To get to this area today, one has to go around Lake Lanao since Marawi is closed.) 

By Jong Cadion

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur (June 28, 2017) - On June 23-24, the ICRC together with the Philippine Red Cross provided much-needed relief items to nearly 13,000 displaced people in Ditsaan-Ramain, east of Marawi City in the nearby province of Lanao del Sur. This municipality is difficult to reach due to access and security issues.

Allison Lopez, Head of Public Communication, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Philippines, said that thousands of people who were not able to flee the fighting in Marawi by going north toward Iligan City, moved toward municipalities on the east of Lake Lanao.

Ditsaan-Ramain is one such hard-to-reach municipality where displaced families do not receive as much relief supplies due to access and security issues, and have to cope with the higher prices of food and other basic commodities.

To support them, we distributed on June 23-24 household items such as sleeping mats, jerry cans, mosquito nets, blankets, and kitchen utensils to nearly 13,000 displaced people staying in evacuation centers and with their relatives in Ditsaan-Ramain, together with volunteers from the Philippine Red Cross. Around 650 people in evacuation centers received hygiene items as part of the assistance, said Lopez.

Since the onset of the clashes, the ICRC and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) have been working together to assist the affected people. The well-trained volunteers of the PRC are crucial to the timely and efficient delivery of the support for displaced residents of Marawi. (Photo by: ICRC)

An ICRC staff assists an elderly woman with her relief items. It is the first time that displaced families in this area received this amount of relief items. (Photo by: ICRC)

An ICRC officer briefs displaced families on the distribution of relief items to ensure a smooth process. (Photo by: ICRC)

Each displaced family received household items such as sleeping mats, jerry cans, mosquito nets, blankets, and kitchen utensils. (Photo by: ICRC)

Hygiene items were also given to families staying in evacuation centers. The assistance was given just before the end of the holy month of Ramadan. (Photo by: ICRC)

A child looks on at the ICRC-PRC distribution of relief items in Ditsaan-Ramain, east of Marawi City where fighting has been going on for more than a month. (Photo by ICRC)