Causes of Displacement

Causes and characteristics of displacement

Violent conflict is the main driver of displacement in Mindanao: 29 percent of all the households reported displacement caused by the movement of armed groups, whether the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), MILF, MNLF or other group. 9 percent identified rido as the cause. A further 9 percent identified other causes, such as economic factors (3%) or natural disasters (2%), as the reason that they left their home.[1]

Figure 7: Displacement by cause between 2000 and 2010 (percentage of the population)

Among all households:

• Displacement caused by armed groups was most frequent in Maguindanao (81%) and affected a smaller proportion of the population in Lanao del Norte (35%), Lanao del Sur (22%), and North Cotabato (20%). Displacement due to the movements of armed groups averaged 11.9 months. Conflict-induced displacement was most likely to have affected households multiple times: over half those displaced by armed movementswere displaced more than once (17% of all the households). Displacement due to armed groups wasfrequently associated with suffering (77%), economic losses (42%), loss of home (37%) and delayed education (30%), and loss of cattle (20%).Out of the 29 percent who were displaced by armed movements, 26 percent mentioned the AFP as one of the group involved. The same proportion (26%) mentioned the MILF.
• Displacement caused by ridos was most frequent in Maguindanao (19%) and Lanao del Sur (16%), compared to 4 percent or less elsewhere. The length of displacement due to ridos averaged 11.1 months. One third of the households displaced by ridos had been displaced more than once (3% of all the population). Displacement due to ridos had a negative impact similar to that of armed group-induced displacement, with 74 percent reporting suffering, 43 percent reporting economic losses, 34 percent reporting losing their home, and 21 percent losing cattle. The main reasons for the ridos were identified as killings (53%), fights over power (30%), and land issues (11%).
• Displacement due to other reasons,such as natural disasters, flooding, or economic conditions,was found across strata, and most frequent in Lanao del Sur (15%) and Lanao del Norte (11%). Displacements due to other reasons were the longest, averaging 23.9 months. This mainly reflects long term economic displacement reported by respondents. One third of the households displaced by reasons other than ridos and armed movements had been displaced more than once (3% of all the households). Compared to the other causes of displacement, displacements due to other reasons were less frequently associated with economic losses (19%) or other losses (home – 29%, cattle – 11%). Nevertheless, 53 percent associated it with some form of suffering, compared to 74 percent or more for displacement caused by ridos and /or armed groups.

Other forms of Violence

There was a strong statistical association between experience of displacement and experience of other forms of conflict-related violence in the tenyear period prior to the survey. Interviewers assessed respondents’ exposure to a series of events including direct exposure to, and witnessing of, violence, and experience of coercion. Among households that were never displaced, exposure to each item was reported by less than 1 percent of respondents. Among the 41 percent of households who had experienced displacement in the last ten years, up to 27 percent reported having their house destroyed by armed groups, 21 percent reported having their harvest or goods destroyed by armed groups, 19 percent reported witnessing the looting or destruction of their house and/or goods, and 11 percent reported having been attacked by someone with a weapon. As would be expected, experiences of other forms of violence were most frequent among households who had been displaced by the movements of armed groups. The survey did not assess whether the violence was experienced before, during or after displacement, or whether the violence caused or resulted from displacement.

Figure 8: Exposure to violence by displacement status

Exposure to a violent event was on average more frequent among households that were displaced at the time of the survey. Over half the households displaced at the time of the survey (56%) reported having had their house destroyed due to the conflicts, compared to 22 percent of those who returned home, 11 percent of those who resettled elsewhere, and none of the households that were never displaced. Households that were displaced at the time of the survey were also more likely to have been looted (42%), attacked by someone with a weapon (24%), or to have witnessed killings of household members (12%) or other individuals (20%).

Exposure to violence over the last ten years was highest in Maguindanao. In that province, 45 percent of the total population reported the destruction of their house. Many respondents indicated exposure toother forms of violence, such as the destruction of goods (37%), being attacked by someone with a weapon (20%), witness looting (32%), and witness killing (16%). In every other stratum, exposure to any of the events was reported by 7 percent of the population or less.

[1] In total 41% of the households reported displacement in the last ten years. Some households reported more than one cause of displacement. Not all respondents specified a cause.