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Southeast Asia
Two years after seige Marawi remains in ruins
2019-06-13
[NPR] Olowan Magarang recalls the moment he knew it was time to flee his home in Marawi. It was in May 2017, two days into a siege by militants aligned with the Islamic State. He said, "I spotted ISIS fighters moving up my brother's four-story house, carrying long guns and high-caliber weapons."

Magarang was living in the epicenter of months of fighting where Philippine troops waged house-to-house combat against hundreds of ISIS-affiliated fighters in Marawi.

Authorities allowed him to see the ruins of his concrete house for the first time last August. He said, "I couldn't even recognize it. The second floor is destroyed. It has no roof or walls. I will renovate, as long as I have money."

Magarang is one of about 100,000 displaced residents — a number about half the size of Marawi's population — waiting to return home, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. An estimated 11,400 families are holding up in homes of relatives and friends, while thousands of others wait in temporary shelters.

The Marawi rehabilitation task force says the displaced population can begin returning home at the end of July. A recent tour with authorities of the areas hardest hit by the conflict, however, suggests the government timetable might be ambitious.

The recovery has been plagued from the start. A Chinese-led consortium was initially involved but were ultimately rebuffed by local leaders and residents. The private Filipino contractor now clearing the debris has moved slowly. No house can be knocked down without the owner's consent, according to Cabinet Housing and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo Del Rosario, who chairs the city's rebuilding task force. Many competing claims filed over the damaged and destroyed property have caused confusion, he says.

"You see, there are so many challenges. ... We have to ensure that when they go back there — 6,000 owners — that they will be residing in the right location, and 55% do not have titles," Del Rosario says.

Some unexploded bombs also pose a risk in the area. Del Rosario says they are "90% cleared."
Posted by:ryuge

#2  Maybe if there was a name change from: "Islamic City of" to just the city name?
Posted by: 3dc   2019-06-13 12:26  

#1  Pix, Rooters, May 20 (possibly previously posted)
Posted by: Wholunter Elmurong4133   2019-06-13 01:30  

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