Helping kids caught up in conflicts<\/p>\n
Violence is a way of life for children living in strife-torn
\nareas of the country. Psychologists warn of the long-term effects
\nof violence upon the young, including development of post-
\ntraumatic stress disorder. The Jakarta Post's Rita A. Widiadana
\nand I. Christianto examine what is being done to help the
\nyoungest victims of adult conflicts.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): There is a little more hope for 10-year-old
\nLiana on Buton island, Southeast Sulawesi, than in her troubled
\nhometown of Ambon, Maluku.<\/p>\n
Together with her parents, she fled a year ago to a refugee
\ncenter on Buton. Yet there is lingering sadness for her brothers
\nwho were left behind.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know where my brothers are now,\" Liana told other
\nrefugee children and some of their peers during the recent
\nNational Children's Congress at the Cibubur campground in East
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
\"My parents and I only hope and pray they're protected by
\nGod.\"<\/p>\n
Life is tough for Liana, who works as a scavenger to help her
\nfamily. She usually earns Rp 1,000 a day by collecting cardboard
\nboxes, plastic bags and bottles.<\/p>\n
She said she liked the work because \"I can continue my
\nschooling and help my mother. We need to buy food\".<\/p>\n
Liana is only one of thousands of child refugees from Maluku,
\nthe famed \"spice islands\" divided by a sectarian conflict which
\nbegan in January 1999. She was invited to the congress, held in
\nconjunction with National Children's Day on July 23, by a non-
\ngovernmental organization.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to return to Ambon. I am so afraid of being
\nkilled,\" she said, remembering how she and other children would
\nflee to nearby fields when they heard the sound of gunfire.<\/p>\n
\"But maybe someday, if there is no more violence, I would like
\nto see my brothers and my old friends.\"<\/p>\n
Stephanus, 13, a refugee from East Timor, said he often had
\nnightmares. \"I see people being shot dead,\" the boy said in a
\ntrembling voice.<\/p>\n
National Children's Day is intended as a day of celebration
\nfor the nation's young, but there was little cheer on the faces
\nof the refugee children. Their gathering was a reminder that
\nadults have failed in their duty to protect children from harmful
\ninfluences and uphold their rights.<\/p>\n
While some fortunate children celebrated the day in Jakarta
\nand other major cities, thousands of others were in cramped
\nrefugee centers in Aceh, Buton, East Nusa Tenggara and other
\nareas. They lack proper food, shelter, health care and, most
\nimportantly, protection by the state.<\/p>\n
Many children have been injured or killed in the conflicts.
\nThey also suffer from the loss of loved ones; data from the
\nIndonesian Child Welfare Foundation (YKAI) put the number of
\norphaned children in Aceh at up to 20,000.<\/p>\n
As of May 2000, the number of refugees in the country totaled
\n729,829 from 161,666 families in 17 provinces. About 60 percent
\nof the displaced people are under 14 years.<\/p>\n
Refugee centers<\/p>\n
In Tuapukan refugee center in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, an
\naverage of two to three children die every day because of
\nmalnutrition and other health problems. Thousands of children
\nhave become dropouts.<\/p>\n
The country director of Plan International Indonesia, Alka
\nPathak, said the organization's health posts treated 12,000
\ninfants suffering from diarrhea, malaria and malnutrition from
\nSeptember 1999 to February 2000.<\/p>\n
Manager of YKAI's Depot Anak Rescue Project Widya Syamsudin
\nsaid the situation for children in refugee centers throughout the
\ncountry was worsening all the time.<\/p>\n
\"The immeasurable losses they face are hard to imagine. Some
\nof them are separated from their parents, brothers or sisters.
\nWorst of all, they have lost their normal childhood,\" Widya said
\nafter visiting several camps in East Nusa Tenggara.<\/p>\n
Like children affected by war, they may experience similar
\nphysical and mental problems such as insomnia, nightmares,
\nheadaches, fear, depression and other behavioral problems.<\/p>\n
She recounted seeing many children traumatized by violence and
\nthe stressful conditions in the refugee centers, with no
\nschooling and little to occupy their time. With frustration from
\nfood shortages and poor sanitation and health care, fights often
\nbreak out among children and adults in the centers. Each person
\nis desperately fighting for their rights to proper food and
\nfacilities.<\/p>\n
There may be other dangers in the centers. Some groups have
\nfound indications of the trafficking of children to centers in
\nother provinces, presumably for prostitution and labor.<\/p>\n
Widya said a social safety net program was urgently needed to
\nhelp the refugees. Resuming education for the kids is also
\nimportant.<\/p>\n
\"We feel that establishing a classroom environment will give
\nthe children an alternative to wandering around the center and
\ndwelling on the ordeal they suffered,\" said Widya.<\/p>\n
Some assistance programs for the children are under way.<\/p>\n
Other NGOs, including Nanda Dian Nusantara Foundation, Plan
\nInternational Indonesia, World Vision Indonesia, Medicine Sans
\nFrontier as well as community and student organizations have
\nestablished trauma centers, alternative schools, playgrounds and
\nhealth facilities to help alleviate the children's suffering.<\/p>\n
Widya said much more needed to be done.<\/p>\n
\"Of course, these efforts are far from adequate and only serve
\nas a quick-fix solution to serious problems faced by some
\nIndonesian children.\"<\/p>\n
An executive of the National Commission for Child Protection
\n(Komnas PA), Aris Merdeka Sirait, said the child refugees were
\nonly part of the country's many deprived children.<\/p>\n
Abuse<\/p>\n
Aris said the violence destroying the lives of children was a
\nviolation of the UN Convention on Children's Rights.<\/p>\n
The convention, approved by 191 nations including Indonesia,
\nestablishes basic rights for children, ranging from education,
\nhealth care, protection from physical and emotional abuse, labor
\nexploitation and prostitution.<\/p>\n
He said the country failed to make the tenets of the
\nconvention a reality.<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesian government has done little to improve
\nchildren's welfare. We have a lot of legal tools yet they have
\nnever been implemented properly.\"<\/p>\n
Violence against children, forced child labor and child
\ntrafficking, especially for prostitution, continues in the
\ncountry, he added.<\/p>\n
Leading children's rights advocate Lily I. Rilantono, a
\nprofessor of medicine at the University of Indonesia, warned of
\nthe urgency of helping children in refugee centers.<\/p>\n
\"They badly need the state's protection. You can't just sit
\nand do nothing while watching children trapped in bloody
\nconflicts.\"<\/p>\n
She said it was equally important to help Indonesian children
\nexperiencing other forms of abuse.<\/p>\n
\"Child refugees witness violence in unrest-hit areas, while
\ntheir friends also experience violent actions against them on the
\ncity's streets, schools, playgrounds and even in their own
\nhomes,\" said Lily, who is also the chairwoman of YKAI.<\/p>\n
She said violence prevailed in the lives of Indonesian
\nchildren -- in their families, communities, in the mass media
\nand entertainment -- during the last 30 years.<\/p>\n
A rigid educational system, the past authoritarian government
\nand materialism have contributed to the development of a
\nmaterialistic and violent society, she said. People tended to
\nresort to force and violence to settle conflicts.<\/p>\n
Lily believed all the conflicts besetting the country were due
\nto disputes among politicians and leaders, saying they could not
\naccept and tolerate social, cultural, political and religious
\ndifferences, which were all part of the democratization process.<\/p>\n
Activists and children's rights advocates are working to get
\nthe message across to politicians, the military and the
\ngovernment about the damage inflicted on the youngest members of
\nsociety. For the time being, Liana and her friends can only hope
\nfor a day when the country will be free of wanton death and
\ndestruction.<\/p>",
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