Situation of more than 200, 000 evacuees in Marawi “critical”: Red Cross

July 24, 2017

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) head of delegation in the  Philippines Pascal Porchet said Monday more than 200,000 evacuees in Marawi City are in "critical" condition. "The situation in evacuation centers is difficult for families. Having been there for 60 days the situation becomes very critical for them. equally difficult is the situation for those who are hosted by families and relatives", Porchet said in the ICRC Facebook page. "We have come to the conclusion that the needs are most important on the eastern shore of the lake. Based on our assessment we see that people are in need of food. we have also seen that there are a lot of cases of people having diarrhea", Porchet said. There are 47, 102 home based families and 2,158 families in evacuation centers,  the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao- Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (ARMM- HEART) said in their Facebook account. "They are all in a critical situation and so are the host families because they are also running out of meals. They have been very generous they have shown a lot of solidarity but as the situation continues, they are getting desperate and those living in those situation they are very desperate to be ale to go home",  Porchet  said. A total of 219, 309 persons fled Marawi City since the battle of the government against the ISIS-linked Maute-Abu Sayyaf group started on May 23, ARMM- HEART said. The health department’s northern Mindanao office said at least 27 evacuees from Marawi City died from illnesses as of June 26. (Alanna Ambi/DMS)