When a School is Turned into a War Zone

Julie Batula / IOM 2017

In 2013, the whole country had watched as an armed group attacked Zamboanga City. The resulting fighting between the group and government forces lasted for almost three weeks with more than 200 of the group killed and the rest detained. The Zamboanga siege also displaced more than 100,000 residents, creating a humanitarian crisis that has taken years to address. At the onset of the siege, the elementary school in Barangay Santa Barbara was taken over by the armed group which made it its base during the siege. The school became the place where they slept, ate and hid. Shockingly, it also became a killing ground. At first glance, you would never think this building was once part of a school. A safe space where children learn, play and pray. Now, the rooms before us bore nothing but brutal reminders of the siege. Clearly visible pockmarks where bullets and mortars had pierced through walls, blackboards and roofs abruptly stopped us in our tracks. I couldn’t help but imagine the horrors that had been perpetrated within this space. (Text from "When a School is Turned into a War Zone" [https://medium.com/@UNmigration/when-a-school-is-turned-into-a-war-zone-ca114222e88c])