Megawati yet to keep word she gave to Buton refugees<\/p>\n
By Jupriadi<\/p>\n
BUTON, Southeast Sulawesi (JP): Muslim refugees from riot-torn
\nMaluku waved to journalists and shouted: \"Please tell Ibu Mega we
\nare still waiting for the blankets she promised us!\"<\/p>\n
\"Please remind her of her promises when she campaigned here,\"
\nsaid one among the thousands now living in squalid conditions in
\nmakeshift refugee centers, referring to Megawati Soekarnoputri of
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
Blankets are important if one has to sleep on the floor of a
\nschool or one of the various other buildings used to accommodate
\nthe more than 52,000 refugees. Food is too, especially after
\nmonths of each family being rationed five kilograms of rice every
\n10 days.<\/p>\n
Of no less importance are the refugees' hopes for the future,
\na rare commodity in a situation where both public and government
\nattention is declining and one feels utterly helpless.<\/p>\n
\"I have lost my husband. He was murdered before his children's
\neyes,\" said Satiawali, 40, haltingly and wiping away tears.<\/p>\n
\"Now I cannot afford to send our six children to school. We
\nlive from day to day only to survive. We have nothing else left.\"<\/p>\n
Before the outbreak of religious clashes between Muslims and
\nChristians on Jan. 19, Satiawali and her family used to lead a
\nrelatively good life in Batu Gajah, Ambon. Her husband, Djafar,
\nwas an electrician at state-owned electricity company PLN in the
\nMaluku capital of Ambon and could send their six children, aged
\nrespectively 17, 16, 15, 13, 11 and six years, to good schools.<\/p>\n
\"I was a vendor in the market,\" she reminisced.<\/p>\n
Then, suddenly in a frenzy of killing by both sides, Djafar
\nwas killed in front of his six children.<\/p>\n
\"My husband was beheaded,\" Satiawali said.<\/p>\n
Satiawali and her six children were among the exodus of
\nthousands of people. She said she did not remember exactly when
\nthey fled Maluku and arrived in Buton.<\/p>\n
Now they are staying in Barrack I of a Muslim orphanage in
\nBone, Batuamsari subdistrict, Buton. \"I am fortunate because I
\nstill have my children. They comfort me in times of sorrow,\" she
\ntold The Jakarta Post at the temporary living quarters.<\/p>\n
As they get only a limited food ration, Satiawali now sells
\nporridge to cover their expenses. \"I can earn enough to buy rice
\nand one liter of kerosene,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Now in Buton, some 220 kilometers to the west of Kendari, the
\ncapital of Southeast Sulawesi province, there is no shortage of
\nsad stories about the refugees.<\/p>\n
Dependent<\/p>\n
They live in neglect in accommodation sites spread all over
\nButon island. Yusran, 23, a student activist from Hasanuddin
\nUniversity, Ujungpandang, who is an indigenous of Buton, said
\nthese refugees were facing a new, tougher ordeal.<\/p>\n
\"This is a condition of life that will turn them from being
\nindependent into being dependent,\" he told the Post.<\/p>\n
He said many of these people have been overcome by
\nfrustration, either because of their traumatic experiences back
\nhome or due to the monotonous life in the refugee centers.<\/p>\n
The head of the social services ministry in Buton district, A.
\nMalik, said since the arrival of these refugees in Buton on Jan.
\n26, their number had increased to 52,123 people.<\/p>\n
\"This is the official number. There are many more who are not
\nincluded in the official report,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Malik said the 52,000 refugees were made up of 11,321 families
\nstaying in almost all of Buton's 21 subdistricts such as
\nBinongko, Tomia, Kaledupa, Wangi-Wangi, Lasalimu and Pasaw-ajo.<\/p>\n
They are also sheltered in Sampolawa, Batauga, Wolio,
\nSorowalio, Bungi, Kapontori, Gu, Lakudo, Mawasangka, Kabaena
\nTimur, Rumbia and Kabaena. The biggest number of refugees can be
\nfound in Batauga subdistrict (5,967 people) and Gu subdistrict
\n(5,949 people).<\/p>\n
Refugees considered most vulnerable to illness are those
\nstaying in centers in Betoambari subdistrict, particularly in
\nBone village. Although all the refugees are susceptible to
\ndiarrhea and tropical malaria owing to sanitation and nutrition
\nproblems, immediate attention is needed in Bone where refugees
\nlack the will to fight for a better life.<\/p>\n
The Post monitored three accommodation sites in three
\nsubdistricts, namely at the Joint Activity Center (SKB), the
\nIslamic Higher-Learning Institute (STIA) and at a Muslim
\norphanage.<\/p>\n
In one site, Husen and his wife, Ani, for example, said they
\noften do not have enough rice to eat. This couple, hailing from
\nBatu Gantung Ganemo, Ambon, complained that the ration of five
\nkilos of rice every 10 days for one family was far from enough.<\/p>\n
\"Sometimes we go without eating. What is most important to us
\nis that our two children have enough to eat,\" said Husen, who has
\nbeen at the SKB accommodation site for three months.<\/p>\n
He said more and more children had been hit by malaria and
\ncholera.<\/p>\n
\"Perhaps they are not used to sleeping on a mat on the floor,\"
\nhe said. At SKB accommodation site he and 100 other families must
\nsleep and eat together in the 160-square meter building.<\/p>\n
\"We are indeed packed in here, people and goods and boxes,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
At the STIA accommodation site, which is quite large, the head
\nof Barrack II, La Rony, 28, said aid from social services and the
\nlocal administration was far from enough for the 386 refugees.<\/p>\n
\"Some time ago, when an official came, donations were
\nforthcoming. Now we have 1.5 kg of rice per person every 10 days.
\nWe must ask for this help, otherwise we would get nothing,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He added refugees here were in urgent need of food and
\nblankets, especially now that the rainy season was approaching.
\nHence the call on Megawati, who recently campaigned among the
\nrefugees.<\/p>\n
The site has about 120 children, who are also prone to
\ndisease. \"Children are most easily hit by malarial fever,\" said
\nAti, 20, a mother of one, who she gave birth to at this
\naccommodation site.<\/p>\n
At a accommodation site at a Muslim orphanage, there are about
\n70 children aged between two and 14 among 126 refugees. These
\nchildren obviously cannot continue their schooling.<\/p>\n
Here, Muhammad Taher and his wife revealed that some of their
\nfellow refugees often ate porridge to ensure that their stock of
\nrice lasted longer. Each refugee gets a ration of two kilos every
\n10 days, plus a packet of instant noodles. \"Here sometimes we
\neat, and sometime we don't,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Two babies have been born at this particular place, one to La
\nMadi and Ati and the other to Amir and Hadijah.<\/p>\n
The lack of food and other basic needs is a main topic here.<\/p>\n
Syamsul, 32, of Kairatu in Ambon, questioned why large
\ndonations were not given directly to refugees, and suspected aid
\nhad not been properly distributed.<\/p>\n
A. Malik denied the allegation.<\/p>\n
\"That's nonsense. The rations are limited because the
\ndonations we have received are not big,\" he said, showing the
\ndata of donations and to whom aid has been distributed.<\/p>\n
He admitted the social services office found it difficult to
\nsubsidize donations in the form of daily needs and medicines to
\nrefugees every day. Therefore his office and the local
\nadministration office are drawing up a plan for local
\nresettlement for the refugees.<\/p>\n
\"This plan will be an alternative choice for those who do not
\nwant to return to Ambon,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, he voiced hope of aid from foreign donors. Malik
\nalso expressed fear that the refugees would no longer be able to
\nlive independently because they had become accustomed to
\nreceiving aid.<\/p>\n
\"So we are indeed in a tight spot now,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Whatever the reason, thousands of refugees urgently need daily
\nnecessities and medicines, and decent dwelling places for their
\nchildren. Their cries, like Satiawali's, are: Give us daily
\nneeds. Give us blankets and give us a home to live in.<\/p>\n
\"Our children have for quite a long time lived on mats on the
\nfloor. They dream of going back to school,\" Satiawali said.<\/p>\n
But, \"I don't want to go to school any more,\" said Ismi, 13,
\nSatiawali's fourth child. \"I just don't.\"<\/p>",
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