Philippines: 60,000 displaced fear returning home

Today, more than 60,000 IDPs in Mindanao are unable or for various reasons unwilling to return home. In some cases their houses have burned down or their land is occupied by other people, in others they fear for their safety because conflict could resume or violence erupt in connection with the ongoing elections... Clashes between the armed forces of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in August 2008 triggered the displacement of more than 500,000 people. Although most displaced people in Central Mindanao have returned to their homes over the past year, thousands have yet to do so.