NGO calls on Barmm, natl govts to address Marawi IDPs concerns urgently

INTERNALLY Displaced Persons (IDPs) and families of the 2017 Marawi Siege continue to face uncertainty as lingering impacts of prolonged displacement hinder their demand for justice and safe and dignified return. 

The Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), a Mindanao-based non-government peacebuilding organization along with its partner Sindaw said on May 24, 2026, that both the national and the regional Bangsamoro governments must heed the urgent calls of the IDPs to address equally relevant challenges that include slow and inadequate compensation claims, land conflicts and dispossession, permanent housing and eviction threats, expired shelter contracts, lack of water supply, education, livelihood opportunities and health services, trauma and mental health concerns, lack of consultation to affected communities especially the women sector, and the growing fear of the IDPs for a new or similar conflict to emerge if the core issues in Marawi will not be satisfied.  

Gus Miclat, executive director of IID, said, “Nine years after the Marawi Siege, tens of thousands of IDPs remain languishing in squalid conditions. The government must recognize the critical need to listen to the IDPs in order to restore genuine peace and help Marawi get back on its feet. Ignoring them and their demands will just prolong their agony.â€

IID said that the Marawi Compensation Board (MCB), which is tasked to process and facilitate claims for damaged properties and loss of lives, may need to do more as Marawi IDPs continue to express their struggle with inadequate funding allocations, stringent documentary requirements, and delays in receiving full payouts.
“The dire state of the IDPs is further exacerbated by the lack of programmatic intervention and inaction of key relevant government agencies who must attend to their needs. Amid much publicized rehabilitation efforts in the city's Most Affected Areas (MAA), the promise to rebuild the lives of the victims and survivors of the siege remain heavily unfulfilled,†Miclat said.

“Significant efforts must be made to hasten the process of resolving the fundamental problems confronting the IDPs in Marawi. Until today, there is an absence of a concrete response for families whose loved ones have been missing since the siege,†he added.

IID said that the issue of displacement, especially one that is driven by armed conflict, is a transitional justice issue that must deliberately respond to the justice claims of the IDPs by addressing their most pressing needs and redress for the victims and their families. 

“There has to be a programmatic and proactive approach to address the roots of prolonged displacement and conflict in Marawi, centering on the interests, protection, and welfare of the IDPs. The government must factor in structural inequalities and ensure that human rights and the rule of law are observed at all times,†Miclat concluded. PR