EU provides €300,000 aid for displaced people in war-torn Zamboanga

The European Union is providing 300, 000 euros (about 407,000 U.S. dollars) to assist thousands of people displaced by the three-week standoff between government troops and Muslim rebels in Southern Philippine city of Zamboanga last month, EU delegation here said in a statement Monday. More than 200 people were killed and nearly 10,000 houses were destroyed in the conflict that erupted on September 9 when 400 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) attempted to siege the city, causing about 120,000 locals homeless at the height of the conflict. Europe's assistance will fund emergency non-food supplies and aid in the management and provision of services at evacuation and displacement sites around Zamboanga City, the statement said. The project, which would run for four months, would focus on the most vulnerable internally-displaced person to ensure that they have access to safe and dignified shelters, blankets, sleeping mats and kitchen utensils, it said. Funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department, the emergency relief will also provide temporary shelters for more than 1,000 families. Some 21 alternative transitional shelters will be established and 20 camp management support staff will be deployed to evacuation centers, it said. "The Ambassadors of the European Union Member States in the Philippines already expressed their concern about the humanitarian crisis created by the fighting in Zamboanga," said EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux.