Shirin Bhandari
Bio:
Shirin Bhandari is a freelance writer based in Manila, Philippines. She is a regular contributor to Roads and Kingdoms and the late Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown. Her articles and photographs have been featured on Slate, CNN, Vice and UNICEF. Her current film which explores the effects of war and displacement to indigenous people is a finalist of Tribeca's IF/Then Development Lab 2020. https://www.clippings.me/shirinbhandari
It has been five years since the Marawi Siege ended, and while the government has steadily completed infrastructure projects at the former heart of the firefights, the Maranao people have not been able to return to their ancestral lands. Many suspect that the government’s plans to commercialize the city are what's really preventing the IDPs from returning.
Years after Marawi was liberated from jihadists loyal to the Islamic State, thousands of residents have not been allowed to return to their own land. Now, they face the government’s backhoes contracted to flatten the remnants of their ancestral property to commercialize the city and make it a tourist destination.
