Mattis to Pressure Pakistan 'One More Time' on Militant Groups

Pentagon chief Jim Mattis is expected to pressure Pakistan to end its alleged ties to militant groups when he visits the country as part of a four-nation tour that began Friday.

Terrorism also will be a main focus of the U.S. defense secretary's stop in Egypt, which last week suffered what officials called the deadliest terror attack in the country's modern history.

Mattis' trip, which will also include stops in Kuwait and Jordan, comes as the U.S. military shifts its focus in the Middle East, after having largely driven out the Islamic State militant group from its self-declared caliphate in Iraq and Syria.

Another major priority is Afghanistan, where U.S. generals acknowledge the NATO coalition remains in a stalemate with Taliban insurgents after 16 years of war.

Thousands more U.S. troops are headed to Afghanistan, along with an increase in U.S. airpower, as part of a new White House strategy announced in August.

The plan also involves enlisting the help of neighboring Pakistan, which the United States has long accused of providing safe haven to the Afghan Taliban.

'One more time'

Pakistan denies sheltering the militants, and the issue has served as a major irritant to bilateral ties.

In October, Mattis said the United States would try "one more time" to work with Islamabad before taking "whatever steps are necessary" to address its alleged support for the militants.

U.S. officials have said Pakistan has not changed its behavior since President Donald Trump in August called out Pakistan for continuing to "harbor criminals and terrorists."

In response, the Trump administration is considering measures that include expanding U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan or downgrading the country's status as a major non-NATO ally, according to media reports.

More severe options include declaring Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism or sanctioning individual Pakistani leaders suspected of having ties with the Taliban.

But the Trump administration is not likely to take any kind of punitive action for at least a few weeks, said Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst with the Woodrow Wilson Center, a global policy research group.

"I think it [the administration] wants to give the Pakistanis a bit more time to see if they're responding to the various demands that the United States made of them when it comes to cracking down on terrorists," said Kugelman.

One of the likelier U.S. responses, according to Kugelman, is expanding not only the geographic scope of the drone war but also the types of targets the United States goes after.

"I think we could start seeing the U.S. trying to target more Haqqani Network and Afghan Taliban targets," especially in the sparsely populated Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, he said.

The United States has much to lose if ties were to deteriorate. Pakistan controls U.S. military supply routes to landlocked Afghanistan, and could close them down, as it did in 2011. The U.S. would also like Pakistan to scale back its nuclear modernization, improve ties with India and stay engaged in the broader fight against Islamic militants.

But despite the risks, Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a public policy research group, warns that Washington appears to be running out of patience.

"For many years we were trying to hold out hope that the Pakistanis would change their mind about Afghanistan and our role there," he said. "But those kinds of hopes aren't as prevalent anymore. And on balance, therefore, I think we are closer to using some of those tougher methods."

Egypt unrest

Mattis' four-country tour will begin in Egypt, which is reeling from last week's terror attack in the Sinai Peninsula. More than 300 people were killed when 25 to 30 militants carrying Islamic State flags attacked a mosque frequented by Sufi Muslim worshippers.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The militant group Sinai Province has been active in North Sinai since 2011, a remote desert region that borders the Gaza Strip. It has carried out several deadly attacks against police, soldiers and Coptic Christians.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has vowed to use "all brute force" necessary to respond to the attackers, and to secure the restive Sinai within the next three months.

Securing the area has proven problematic for Sissi. Egypt's military launched a large-scale military campaign against militants in September 2015. But, as evidenced by last week's attack, its effectiveness has been questionable.

Rights groups also have accused Egypt's military of carrying out extrajudicial killings and torture.

U.S. aid to Egypt

Human rights concerns could come up during Mattis' meeting with Egyptian leaders.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration denied Egypt $96 million in aid and delayed another $195 million over human rights concerns. Trump has since said he would consider reinstating the aid.

The Sinai attack could help justify that decision, said Timothy Kaldas, who specializes in U.S.-Egypt relations at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy. He warned, though, that Egypt's rights record has not progressed since the aid suspension was announced.

"Moreover, there are no indications from the government, nor legislation under consideration, that suggest the rights situation will improve in the near future," Kaldas added.

The United States gives Egypt approximately $1.3 billion in military aid every year. Over the past three decades, Washington has given Cairo nearly $80 billion in military and economic assistance.

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US Envoy: Economic Support for Cambodia to Continue

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA — 

Despite criticism from Washington over Cambodia's crackdown on the opposition and accusations that the U.S. helped plot Prime Minister Hun Sen's downfall, U.S. Ambassador William Heidt has said that America's support for Cambodia's economy will not be negatively impacted.

Heidt told VOA's Khmer service on Wednesday that the embassy's mission to strengthen the bilateral relationship with Cambodia remained of paramount importance.

"For me, the key next step is helping to connect Cambodia's technology sector with the big American technology companies, which are investing throughout Southeast Asia, mostly in Singapore and Ho Chi Minh City," he said.

"I think Cambodia is developing fast in technology, but it has not yet broken out of Cambodia, gotten a hook in with the regional technology network. And, that's what I am going to do next and I hope to do that in the first half of next year," he added.

Economic growth

The United States is focused on promoting Cambodian economic growth to connect U.S. investors with Cambodian technology companies, Heidt said.

The U.S. Embassy and Cambodian government have been at odds over accusations that Washington conspired with the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to overthrow Hun Sen in a so-called "color revolution" — a reference to attempts by pro-democracy movements to overthrow autocratic regimes in parts of the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and the Middle East.

The U.S. Embassy has denied allegations of interference.

Heidt said the allegations were categorically false.

"I don't spend a ton of time on this issue because there's really no more for us to say. And, I mean, nobody, nobody believes this in America. Nobody in our government, nobody in our society," he said. "We, on the American side, feel very strongly that we have been a great partner for Cambodia. We really helped Cambodia to develop in many ways and we want to keep doing that."

Hun Sen, one of China's closest regional allies, is a former Khmer Rouge officer who has ruled the southeast Asian country for more than three decades. He has intensified his rhetoric against the United States amid a crackdown on opponents and the media before next year's general election.

Earlier this month, Cambodia banned the opposition party after arresting its leader, Kem Sokha, and charging him with treason in September.

Heidt said he felt a deep regret at the government's decision to move to dissolve the CNRP, which has led the White House to reconsider its foreign relations with Cambodia. He said the Trump administration was reassessing Cambodia's eligibility for preferential trade agreements.

"Since I came here, let's be honest, the Cambodian government has taken a lot of steps against the government of the United States," he said. "They cut our military exercises, they threw [a] detachment out of the country, they made all of those accusations against us related to the political situation.

"I feel like there has never been an honest desire by the Khmer government to have a good relationship with the United States," Heidt added.

Some changes needed

Phay Siphan, government spokesman, said Phnom Penh did not desire to sour the relationship with the United States, but added that there were "some little activities" that needed to end in order for relations to improve, including suggesting Cambodia was "pro-China."

Hun Sen is in China — Cambodia's biggest donor and lender — this week for a Communist Party conference in Beijing, where he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Actions seen as anti-U.S. have included Hun Sen's request that the U.S. forgive a $505 million debt for food and agricultural goods. Cambodia's Lon Nol government borrowed the money in the 1970s, during its civil war with the Khmer Rouge. China wrote off debts incurred in the 1970s by the Khmer Rouge regime about 15 years ago.

In January, Phnom Penh suspended joint military exercises with the U.S., citing the local June elections as the cause, while rejecting suggestions that its decision was related to military and financial ties with China.

Most recently, after the U.S. announced on November 17 that it was ending funding for the upcoming election, the pro-government Fresh News website reported that Hun Sen said in a speech to garment workers that he welcomed the cut in U.S. aid, and urged Washington to cut all assistance.

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Pope Francis Refers to 'Rohingya' in Bangladesh

Pope Francis asked for forgiveness from Rohingya Muslim refugees for all of their suffering Friday, using the politically sensitive term "Rohingya" to describe the persecuted - a term he had not uttered during his trip that started in Myanmar.

"The presence of God today is also called Rohingya," he said after meeting refugees brought to the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka from Cox's Bazaar, where where hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees have settled after fleeing violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

The pontiff greeted and blessed a group of Rohingya refugees during an emotional meeting in which he held their hands and listened to their stories, asking them for forgiveness on behalf of those who persecuted and hurt them.

Earlier Friday, Pope Francis ordained 16 priests Friday at a huge outdoor Mass in the Bangladeshi capital. An estimated 100,000 people attended the Mass in Dhaka's Suhrawardy Udyan Park.

Before visiting Bangladesh, the pontiff spent four days in neighboring Myanmar, where he had been criticized by human rights activists for not specifically mentioning the Rohingya while in Myanmar.

The Rohingya are a minority ethnic group that has been denied basic rights for decades in the majority Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which views them as immigrants from Bangladesh, despite the fact that many families have lived in Myanmar for generations.

Their situation has worsened since August, when the military launched a scorched earth campaign against Rohingya villages in northern Rakhine state in response to attacks on Myanmar police outposts on Rohingya militants. The campaign, including reports of mass rapes and indiscriminate killings, triggered a mass exodus of more than 620,000 Rohingya into Bangladesh, which the United Nations has described as "a textbook example of ethnic cleansing."

The pope has denounced the treatment of the Rohingya in previous public remarks, but his advisers counseled him not to speak about the issue while in Myanmar, for fear of a backlash against the 650,000 Catholics in the country.

Myanmar Bishop John Hsane Hgyi went even further Wednesday, casting doubt about the reported atrocities against the Rohingya, and urging critics of the Myanmar government to go to the scene "to study the reality and history" of the issue and learn the truth.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Wednesday that Pope Francis has not lost his "moral authority" on the issue, and suggested he may have been far more direct during his private talks with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and powerful military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

^{Fern Robinson contributed to this report.}

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North Korea's New Missile: What We Know

North Korea earlier this week launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile – the Hwasong-15 – that reached an altitude of about 4,500 kilometers and traveled about 1,000 kilometers. Pyongyang claims the missile could reach any target in the continental United States.

What is this thing?

On November 28, at 1:17 p.m. EST, the U.S. tracked what it said was the launch of a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

According to the Pentagon, the missile “was launched from Sain Ni, North Korea, and traveled about 1,000 kilometers before splashing down in the Sea of Japan, within Japan's Economic Exclusion Zone.”

U.S. officials determined that the launch itself did not pose a threat to North America, U.S. territories or U.S. allies.

North Korea’s state-run media said Wednesday the missile was a Hwasong-15, a new missile “tipped with a super-large heavy warhead which is capable of striking the whole mainland of the U.S."

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared the launch a success, boasting the regime has "finally realized the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force."

What do we know it can do?

North Korea’s state-run television station further said the Hwasong-15 flew 950 kilometers (590 miles) for 53 minutes and reached an altitude of 4,475 kilometers (2,781 miles).

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday called the missile the most advanced in North Korea’s arsenal.

“It went higher, frankly, than any previous shot they’ve taken, a research and development effort on their part to continue building ballistic missiles that can threaten everywhere in the world, basically," U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said following a meeting at the White House on Tuesday (November 28).

A U.S. intelligence official confirmed to VOA that the missile’s flight time was the longest to date of any of North Korea’s previous launches.

Based on the available data, “this missile would have a range of more than 13,000 kilometers (8,100 miles),” according to a post by David Wright, co-director of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

“Such a missile would have more than enough range to reach Washington, D.C., and in fact any part of the continental United States,” Wright stated.

What do we not know?

Analysts like Wright say it is not yet clear what type of payload the new North Korean missile carried during this latest test, but they believe it is likely the missile carried only a mock warhead.

“If true, that means it would be incapable of carrying a nuclear warhead to this long distance, since such a warhead would be much heavier,” according to Wright.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Thursday said the missile was the most advanced in North Korea’s arsenal but questioned whether Pyongyang has managed to perfect its missile technology.

During a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, Moon also said it was not clear whether North Korea’s capabilities had advanced to a point where it would be able to miniaturize a nuclear warhead to mount on a missile.

Are there effective defenses?

The U.S. has a number of defenses in place, including the anti-missile defense system THAAD, which shoots down short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and the ship-based Aegis system, which can track 100 missiles simultaneously and intercept them. It also has the Patriot missile defense system in Japan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said, "Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."

The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said the Aegis system successfully intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile during a test in late August off the coast of Hawaii.

The THAAD system also managed to successfully intercept a medium-range ballistic missile during a test in July.

Neither of those tests, though, measured the defense systems’ effectiveness against an ICBM like the Hwasong-15.

The U.S. and South Korea also have proposed spending billions of dollars on additional missile defense systems and installations.

Significance of mobile launcher?

North Korea says it launched the Hwasong-15 from a mobile launcher. The ability to launch a missile from a launch pad that can be moved to different locations makes it more difficult for the United States and its allies to locate the launch site and neutralize the threat.

North Korea’s state-run media also claimed the mobile launcher was made entirely in North Korea.

Not all analysts are convinced the claim is true. But if it is, it means North Korea is no longer reliant on other mobile launchers made by countries such as China, and that the production of additional mobile missile launchers may not be hampered as much by sanctions.

Is this surprising?

Immediately following the November 28 launch, an intelligence official told VOA the United States was "not surprised.”

In fact, top intelligence officials have been warning for months about Pyongyang’s advancing missile and nuclear weapons programs.

Just this past October, two top U.S. officials warned that North Korea was likely just months away from being capable of striking the United States with a nuclear missile.

"We ought to behave as if we are on the cusp of them achieving that objective," CIA Director Mike Pompeo said when asked about Pyongyang's pursuit of missile technology that could launch a warhead to targets in the U.S.

"They are so far along in that it's now a matter of thinking about how do you stop the final step?" he added.

U.S. National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, speaking at the same forum in Washington, also offered a grim assessment.

"We're not out of time but we're running out of time," McMaster said. "Accept and deter is unacceptable."

What comes next?

North Korea’s latest test has been roundly criticized by world leaders, with many calling for new sanctions or stricter enforcement of existing sanctions against North Korea.

The U.S. also has remained steadfast in its call for Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal.

"This administration is focused on one big thing when it comes to North Korea, and that's denuclearization of the Korean peninsula,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Thursday. “That's our number one priority."

But top U.S. intelligence officials think it is unlikely Kim Jong Un would voluntarily give up his nuclear capabilities, seeing it as an indispensable tool.

"Kim Jong Un is a very rational actor," Yong Suk Lee, the deputy assistant director of the Central Intelligence Agency's Korea Mission Center, said at an intelligence conference in October.

"Kim Jong Un wants what all authoritarian rulers want ... to rule for a long time and die peacefully in his own bed," Lee said. "He wants to keep us out of his sandbox."

_{^{Material from Reuters and The Associated Press was used in this report.}}

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US Formally Opposes China Market Economy Status at WTO

WASHINGTON — 

The United States has formally told the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it opposes granting China market economy status, a position that if upheld would allow Washington to maintain high anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods.

The statement of opposition, made public on Thursday, was submitted as a third-party brief in support of the European Union in a dispute with China that could have major repercussions for the trade body’s future.

China is fighting the EU for recognition as a market economy, a designation that would lead to dramatically lower anti-dumping duties on Chinese goods by prohibiting the use of third-country price comparisons.

The U.S. and EU argue that the state’s pervasive role in the Chinese economy, including rampant granting of subsidies, mean that domestic prices are deeply distorted and not market-determined.

A victory for China before the WTO would weaken many countries’ trade defenses against a flood of cheap Chinese goods, putting the viability of more western industries at risk.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told Congress in June that the case was “the most serious litigation we have at the WTO right now” and a decision in China’s favor “would be cataclysmic for the WTO.”

Lighthizer has repeatedly expressed frustration with the WTO’s dispute settlement body and has called for major changes at the organization.

The USTR brief, which follows a Commerce Department finding in October that China fails the tests for a market economy, argues that China should not automatically be granted market economy by virtue of the expiration of its 2001 accession protocol last year.

“The evidence is overwhelming that WTO members have not surrendered their longstanding rights ... to reject prices or costs that are not determined under market economy conditions in determining price comparability for purposes of anti-dumping comparisons,” the brief concludes.

The move comes as trade tensions between Washington and Beijing are increasing as the Trump administration prepares several possible major trade actions, including broad tariffs or quotas on steel and aluminum and an investigation into Chinese intellectual property misappropriation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing on Friday that some countries were trying to “skirt their responsibility” under WTO rules.

“We again urge relevant countries to strictly honor their commitment to international principles and laws, and fulfill their agreed upon international pacts,” Geng said.

The Commerce Department on Tuesday launched the first government-initiated anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations in decades on Chinese aluminum sheet imports.

U.S. officials say that 16 years of WTO membership has failed to end China’s market-distorting state practices.

“We are concerned that China’s economic liberalization seems to have slowed or reversed, with the role of the state increasing” David Malpass, U.S. Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, told an event in New York on Thursday.

“State-owned enterprises have not faced hard budget constraints and China’s industrial policy has become more and more problematic for foreign firms. Huge exports credits are flowing in non-economic ways that distort markets,” Malpass said.

The brief submitted to the WTO also argues that China should be treated the same way as communist eastern European countries, including Poland, Romania and Hungary were when they joined the WTO’s predecessor organization, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A senior U.S. official said those countries eventually earned market economy status as evidence of state subsidies and state distortions waned. He added that going forward, WTO members wishing to use third-country price comparisons against Chinese imports would need to keep presenting evidence of economic distortions.

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Obama Meets Dalai Lama, Indian PM in New Delhi

NEW DELHI — 

Former President Barack Obama and Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, met in New Delhi Friday to discuss promoting peace in the world, according to the Dalai Lama’s office.

Obama, who is on a three nation tour, also met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India, where he arrived after visiting China.

“It was very good, I think like reunion,” the Dalai Lama leader said calling Obama an old and trusted friend after meeting him in a New Delhi hotel.

It was the sixth meeting between the two leaders -- they last met in July last year when Obama hosted the Dalai Lama in the White House overriding strong objections from China which describes the Tibetan leader as a separatist and fears such meetings send the wrong signal to Tibetans.

Both men, who have won the Nobel Peace prize, discussed the kind of future they envision for the world, the Dalai Lama’s office said.

“I mentioned to him, we need promotion of sense of oneness…too much division,” the Dalai Lama later said.

The 82-year-old Tibetan leader, who has retired from a political role in the Tibetan exile administration, told Obama that laureates should meet to affect changes for the immediate future. “You are young and you can do a lot. Although my generation will not see the results, but your generation will definitely see the results.”

The Dalai Lama had requested the meeting because it is difficult for him to he visit the US now due to his age.

Obama apparently discussed his Foundation’s work with the Tibetan leader.

Obama’s stop in Delhi included a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Modi. Both leaders had developed a good rapport after Modi came to power and helped boost the India-U.S. relationship, which has since been on an upward trajectory.

After the meeting, Modi tweeted that “It was a pleasure to meet, once again, former President and learn about the new initiatives being taken forward under his leadership at the Obama Foundation and his perspectives on further strengthening India-US strategic partnership.”

Addressing a leadership summit organized by the Hindustan Times, Obama also hailed India-US ties and said that the two countries “can help chart course for a better future, especially when democracy itself is being questioned.”

He also said India should cherish and nurture its large Muslim population that is integrated and considers itself Indian. “That is unfortunately not always the case in some other countries,” he said.

The comment came at time when critics have expressed concern about growing intolerance by Hindu fringe groups since Modi’s Hindu nationalist right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party came to power.

Obama also addressed a town hall meeting with about 280 young Indian leaders in New Delhi. From India he goes on to visit France.

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Local Ethnic Customs Complicate Recovery for War-Torn Philippine City

CAGAYAN DE ORO, PHILIPPINES — 

A southern Philippine ethnic group’s unique clan structure, historic dependence on local trade, and chilling family feuds are setting back efforts toward quick recovery for a city demolished this year by war.

The war between government troops and the Islamic State-inspired Maute Group insurgency in Marawi ended in October after razing much of that city, allowing the central government to plan for reconstruction through at least 2019.

Some practices of the local Maranao people, many living outside the city now as refugees, are expected to complicate the resettlement effort that already faces sticky land-rights issues.

“That there are cultural practices and traditional authority structures that are very, very strong, the fact that this is a contested area with a lot of informal settlers as well, these are the things that would have to be taken into account and provide some complications to the whole process,” said Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines.

​Ideas about reconstruction

As the Philippine government calculates the cost of reconstruction in Marawi, it will find that Maranao people have their own ideas about how, Coronel-Ferrer said.

Some land where new houses could be built is ancestral, making clan hierarchy a factor in who resettles where. But the Armed Forces of the Philippines effectively controls much of the city’s land.

The Maranao, part of a bigger population of Muslims who have felt the Philippine Catholic majority controls an unfair share of resources, may not be able to prove land rights, especially if they settled informally, analysts say.

People who were well off before the war might feel entitled to several new houses despite vague ownership records, experts say. One fear is that “too many people with interests will try to grab lands,” said Ramon Casiple, executive director of Philippine advocacy organization Institute for Political and Electoral Reform.

“These are real complications,” Casiple said. For the Maranao, he said. “The key question is whether they are still part of the negotiations for things that are being negotiated about them.”

The Philippine budget office has announced funding of $392 million through 2019 to help rebuild the city. That amount is seen covering less than half the estimated cost of replacing all the burned and bullet hole-ridden houses.

The May 23 to Oct. 24 war killed about 1,100 people and displaced 364,000.

​Discord among refugees

Maranao social customs and a belief in Islam already make life hard for refugees who fled during the war to safer cities elsewhere on the island of Mindanao.

Social welfare workers in nearby Cagayan de Oro, a city with 19,000 refugees at the peak, have separated Maranao families to ensure they do not fight with one another, said Teodoro Sabuga, a city social welfare and development officer who helps oversee refugee aid.

The ethnic group is known for retaliatory violence, called “rido,” between families and sometimes neighborhoods, especially where legal authorities are considered weak or in the face of injustice.

“We have noticed that the IDPs (internally displaced persons) from Marawi were not open to staying in the evacuation centers, because their preference is to stay with their families given the ‘rido’ issue among brother Maranaos,” Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno said. More than 50 families had lived at the chief evacuation center at its peak.

​Loss of income

One of those clans was the Maute Group, an insurgency formed by two brothers in Marawi in 2013. The brothers died during their war with government troops, but other families now blame survivors for inciting the conflict that demolished houses as well as small businesses that were an income staple for many Maranao people, Casiple said.

Maranaos had earned money from providing services around Mindanao State University and military installations in their old hometown, once home to 200,000 people. Since the war made business unsafe to impossible, some have ventured as far as the capital of Manila to try selling things in the streets.

The Philippine armed forces chief of staff expressed support last week for “clearing operations, post-conflict assessment and rehabilitation of the city,” the military’s website says.

The threat of fresh violence in and around Marawi now keeps refugees from trying to go home.

But as Muslims, some feel uncomfortable sending children to schools in largely Christian Cagayan de Oro. With Marawi’s safety unclear, refugees are debating whether to live long-term in other cities.

“They have a lot of fear that if they send their kids to a school that’s predominantly Christian, they may be either bullied or treated badly,” International School Cagayan de Oro President Rhona Canoy said. “For many of them, this is the first time they came out of Marawi.”

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