Govt to stop feeding, housing refugees next month<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government will next month stop providing food and housing
\nassistance for thousands of displaced people who fled religious,
\nethnic and separatist conflicts throughout the country, a senior
\nwelfare minister said here on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla said
\nthe government would shut down the refugee camps in early
\nJanuary, and stop providing refugees with their current daily
\nallowance of around Rp 3,000 (35 U.S. cents) per day.<\/p>\n
He did not gave a precise date.<\/p>\n
\"The government cannot give assistance to the refugees
\nindefinitely as it would spark envy among others,\" he told
\njournalists meeting with Vice President Hamzah Haz.<\/p>\n
\"While other people are working hard, they are getting
\neverything from the government,\" the minister added.<\/p>\n
He said he hoped the move would encourage displaced persons to
\nlive independently.<\/p>\n
Citing improved security conditions in some parts of the vast
\narchipelago, Kalla said the refugees could now return home.<\/p>\n
The minister said the central government was committed to
\nresolving the refugee problem as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
Of nearly 1.2 million people forced to become refugees in
\n2001, only about 100,000 of them are still living in makeshift
\ncamps in various parts of the country, according to the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
However, several international aid groups put the number of
\nrefugees in Indonesia at almost one million.<\/p>\n
Kalla warned that refugees refusing to leave their camps by
\nthe January deadline would not receive food allowances any more
\nfrom the government.<\/p>\n
He regretted the fact that many refugees insisted on staying
\nin the camps merely to obtain their daily allowances as some of
\nthem had already obtained jobs.<\/p>\n
A number of conflicts have calmed down around Indonesia since
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri came to power last year,
\nreplacing president Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
The government signed a peace deal on Dec. 9 with the rebel
\nFree Aceh Movement to end a conflict that has killed around
\n12,000 people since the 1970s and displaced thousands more. The
\ndeal has reduced, but not stopped, the bloodshed.<\/p>\n
Three years of sectarian fighting between Christians and
\nMuslims in the eastern islands of Maluku and in the Central
\nSulawesi town of Poso has largely stopped since peace accords
\nwere signed earlier this year. The conflicts had claimed at least
\n9,000 lives.<\/p>\n
Peace has also returned to Central Kalimantan, which had seen
\nsporadic bouts of bloody ethnic fighting between indigenous
\nDayaks and migrants from Madura island in East Java until last
\nyear. Hundreds of Madurese settlers were killed and thousands of
\nothers fled.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some 250,000 refugees fled, or were forced to flee,
\nEast Timor after it voted to secede from Indonesia in August
\n1999. Most of them have since returned home.<\/p>\n
About 17,000 families, making a total of 105,227 East Timorese
\nrefugees, are still languishing in camps across East Nusa
\nTenggara, according to the government.<\/p>\n
The government spent Rp 6.61 billion (US$743,325) on funding
\nthe repatriation of 9,010 East Timorese refugee families between
\nNov. 16 last year and Dec. 23, 2002.<\/p>\n
Each family received Rp 750,000 (US$84) in food and transport
\nallowances for those willing to return to East Timor.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-stop-feeding-housing-refugees-next-month-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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