Marawi residents wait to go home

Thousands still in temporary shelters after five-month siege

MARAWI, the Philippines - Asniah Sultan, 26, fled with her family from the southern Philippine city of Marawi when fighting between government security forces and pro-Islamic State fighters erupted in May last year.

Sultan, with her three children aged 1, 3 and 4 and her husband, were among those who hastily fled the city.

They are now living in a "tent city" in the outskirts of Marawi along with almost 200 families. Their rented house was among those burned down during the fierce fighting that also left more than 1,200 dead.

Before the war broke out, Sultan earns a living by selling fish in the market. "We have been living on dole-outs for a year now," she said.

On May 23, extremists launched their attack on Marawi City, Lanao del Sur province. Nearly 354,000 residents or more than 77,000 families in and around the besieged area were displaced in the clashes between militants and government forces.

In October, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the city liberated after five months of airstrikes and gunbattles.

Humanitarian aid is being distributed to the thousands of people, mostly poor Filipino Muslims, who fled the violence. But conditions are harsh in temporary shelters and many fear they will never be able to return home.

Evacuees receive a pack of goodies that includes six kilos of rice, four cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef and six coffee sachets every nine days, Sultan said.