UN WFP: No humanitarian crisis in South
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 07:27:00 10/09/2008
DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) said the situation in Mindanao could not yet be described as a “humanitarian crisis” but called for an immediate end to the fighting between government troops and Islamic rebels.
“I don’t think there is a humanitarian crisis,” Alghassim Wurie, WFP country deputy director told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone Wednesday.
He said there was still enough food and supplies to help hundreds of thousands of people who have fled their homes to avoid getting caught in the crossfire of government forces and the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“It was asked how long this conflict will last. Nobody has given a definite answer but all share the view that it must end,” Wurie said.
Renewed fighting erupted last August when a Malaysia-brokered peace agreement between the government and the MILF collapsed.
“There is a need to support the needs of the people there,” said Wurie.
Over the past two months, a total of 611,753 individuals have been displaced, according to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC). Dennis Santos, Inquirer Mindanao
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