Two-year old Joana is carried by a Philippine soldier after being rescued by humanitarian volunteers after she and her family spent more than a month caught up in the middle of the fighting in Marawi.Reuters
The Philippine government is worried about how to manage the growing number of evacuees in different evacuation centers in the Southern Philippines caused by the armed conflict in Marawi. According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the total number of evacuees registered have increased up to 80,000 families and is still growing.
There are already at least 80 evacuation centers established in region X since the war broke out and 90 percent of evacuees chose to stay in their relatives or friends houses, but still the evacuation centers were not enough to accommodate the growing number of non-home-based evacuees.
On Wednesday, the Marawi City battle entered its 36th day of intense gunfights and bombing in the heart of town. Black-clad fighters were seen from afar running between buildings as explosions rang out. In this gallery, IBTimes Singapore has compiled a series of heart-breaking images from the evacuation centres.
An evacuated newborn sleeps inside a mosquito net at an evacuation centre outside Marawi.Reuters
Evacuated residents gather at an evacuation centre in Iligan, while government forces fight insurgents from the Maute group in Marawi, Philippines.Reuters
Evacuated residents rest at an evacuation centre in Iligan, while government forces fight insurgents from the Maute group in Marawi, Philippines.Reuters
Residents who left their homes to avoid the intense fighting between the government forces and insurgents from the Maute group, who have taken over parts of Marawi city, are seen inside the evacuation centre in Iligan city, southern Philippines June 18, 2017.Reuters
A evacuated mother Rohanifa carries her 2-weeks-old baby Raifah who was born at the evacuation center.Reuters
A resident who left her home waits to collect drinking water from an open pipe at Pantar village, Lanao Del Norte.Reuters
A resident who left their home gives a bath to her son inside the evacuation center in Baloi village, Lanao Del Norte.Reuters
