Seunebok refugees need help to get back home<\/p>\n
Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, East Aceh<\/p>\n
As the sun sets in rural Alue Ie Mirah, residents shut their
\ndoors as a group of rubber tappers slowly make their way home
\nfrom a hard day's work.<\/p>\n
The tappers pass the tidy village houses down to the poorer
\nend of town, where makeshift shacks of wood and nipa palm are
\njammed close together, in a kind of country slum.<\/p>\n
\"We took refuge here after martial law was declared in 2003,\"
\nAminah, 50, tells The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Announced on May 19 by then-president Megawati Soekarnoputri,
\nmartial law came after series of peace talks between the
\ngovernment and Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leaders collapsed.<\/p>\n
The day after, the Indonesian Military (TNI) began a major
\noffensive throughout the province aiming to crush the rebels.
\nGunfire crackled throughout Aceh as soldiers raided villages,
\nwith soldiers reportedly beating and firing on unarmed civilians
\nas they raided suspected GAM strongholds in the hunt for rebels.<\/p>\n
During the year of martial law TNI leaders estimated that more
\nthan 2,000 suspected GAM rebels were killed, but human rights
\norganizations put the figure higher and say many of these
\nsuspected rebels were likely to have been innocent civilians.<\/p>\n
Fearing for their lives, Aminah and her family were some of
\nthe thousands of villagers in the hottest areas who fled to safer
\nspots.<\/p>\n
At least 420 families fled from Seunebok subdistrict, most of
\nthem rubber tappers, taking refuge in Alue Ie Mirah about 10
\nkilometers away.<\/p>\n
\"Our area was no longer safe. Fighting was frequent and we
\nwere worried that we would be shot dead,\" Aminah said.<\/p>\n
Their worst fears were realized when news came that eight
\nvillagers had been found dead in Seunebok with their throats cut,
\ncausing another wave of refugees to leave the area. On successive
\nreturns to their village they found the black hulks of torched
\nhouses and schools as their untended crops withered.<\/p>\n
Living in Alue Ie Mirah, the villagers now travel 10-
\nkilometers to the nipa palm and rubber plantations in Seunebok
\nevery day, returning to sleep at night at the camp.<\/p>\n
Life has been tough, Aminah says. There is little sanitation
\nin the camp, diseases are common and disruptions to their work
\ncaused by the frequent fighting meant they could not afford to
\nsend their children to school. \"We have no money,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Local leader Muawiyah Abdurrahman said that despite their
\nplight neither the provincial or central governments had been
\ninterested in helping them.<\/p>\n
However, despite this dark chapter in their lives, things are
\nlooking up for the villagers. They hope the peace deal signed in
\nHelsinki last month by GAM and the government will mean they are
\neventually able to return home. But without the state's
\nassistance, the villagers say they won't be going anywhere soon.<\/p>\n
\"We want to return home. But we need help as many our homes
\nhave been burned down and our lands have been abandoned because
\nof the prolonged conflict,\" Muawiyah said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/seunebok-refugees-need-help-to-get-back-home-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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