The job of the Red Cross: Cleaning up the mess left by war<\/p>\n
YS Tong, Journalist, Banda Aceh, Aceh<\/p>\n
They see with their eyes the victims of almost every battle, dead
\nor alive, in conflict-torn Aceh province, located at the tip of
\nnorthern Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Unlike the ordinary Acehnese, the media, the military and
\nrebels who are always racing for information on the latest
\nbattle, they are perfectly comfortable with being the last to be
\ninformed.<\/p>\n
This is because their job begins when the explosions and
\ngunfights are over.<\/p>\n
They are the volunteers and staff of the Indonesian Red Cross
\n(PMI), who have traveled up hills and across streams to treat the
\ninjured and to bring back the dead, who would otherwise become
\nfood for wild animals or compost for the earth.<\/p>\n
They have treated dozens of wounded people and recovered over
\n200 corpses in the first month of the military operation against
\nthe Free Aceh Movement (GAM) separatist rebels.<\/p>\n
As the operation continues, coupled with an increase in
\nkidnappings by unknown perpetrators, the number of bodies is
\nexpected to rise in the coming days.<\/p>\n
As it is, PMI's daily work already sounds far removed from a
\ndream job.<\/p>\n
What makes their task even less attractive is the disturbing
\ncondition of the bodies when they are located -- many had their
\nhands tied behind their backs, some were thrown into rivers, some
\nhad plastic bags covering their heads, and worst of all, some
\nwere found with missing limbs, including the head.<\/p>\n
Most of these bodies, however, share three things in common --
\nthey are all male, they have all been shot and they all exude an
\nunbearable odor.<\/p>\n
Fachrul Rizayani, a university student, said he was getting
\nused to all the \"horror\" after months of working as a PMI
\nvolunteer.<\/p>\n
\"It was not easy at first, but now I'm okay with it, although
\nI have to handle the bodies wearing gloves. Some colleagues of
\nmine can do it with their bare hands,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Over 400 Acehnese people like Fachrul are now working with
\nPMI, which has based its operation center in Banda Aceh, the
\nprovincial capital.<\/p>\n
The PMI did not launch any recruitment campaign for
\nvolunteers. The volunteers -- mostly those who were involved with
\nPMI during secondary school or university -- just showed up on
\ntheir doorstep and offered to help when violence resumed just
\nbefore the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement officially
\ncollapsed.<\/p>\n
The volunteers are stationed at 18 centers spread throughout
\nthe province and they work according to a duty-roster, which
\ndivides a day into three shifts.<\/p>\n
Each center is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.<\/p>\n
Phone calls from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and locals
\ncould come in at any time, informing the center about locations
\nwhere bodies have been spotted.<\/p>\n
The remains often end up in district hospitals for autopsies
\nand burials. They are mostly John Does -- without ID cards and
\ntheir facial features already decomposed from exposure to mud or
\nwater, which makes identification extremely difficult, if not
\nimpossible.<\/p>\n
In rare cases, however, the bodies were identified and
\nreturned to their families. This happens when PMI finds a match
\namong its operations centers, that corresponds to the description
\nprovided by families who have lodged missing-person reports with
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Even when a body is finally identified, it is not really a
\njoyous moment nor a relief to the PMI staff and volunteers.<\/p>\n
\"The family members would be waiting outside their house after
\nwe have informed them that we are coming. As soon as the body
\narrives in an ambulance, the family members would rush to it and
\nstart crying.<\/p>\n
\"I cried several times along with the families. It was
\nembarrassing, but I could not help it,\" recalled Riya Ison, the
\npublic relations officer for PMI in Aceh.<\/p>\n
When asked who the Acehnese people think killed their men, he
\npointed at a plaque on the wall bearing the principles of PMI and
\nreplied, \"We are neutral when it comes to an armed conflict or
\npolitical dispute.\"<\/p>\n
Riya, who is from Lampung, Southern Sumatra, added that he had
\ntried to understand why the TNI and GAM, both with Muslim
\nelements, were fighting each other when he first came to Aceh as
\na PMI volunteer years ago.<\/p>\n
\"This question does not bother me any more, because I
\nunderstand better now that our job is to help people in need,
\nregardless of their race or religion.<\/p>\n
\"There are a lot of things that we do not need to know,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The refugees obviously know well about this principle of
\nneutrality. Many of them, when fleeing their homes to avoid
\nbattles in their villages, choose to follow PMI ambulances so as
\nnot to be targeted by either side.<\/p>\n
With each passing day, the PMI's workload is getting heavier
\nand heavier.<\/p>\n
A recent addition on their daily work is to assist the Social
\nand Health Department in distributing medicine, food, clothes and
\nother basic amenities to some 40,000 refugees in designated
\ncamps.<\/p>\n
Last week, PMI also funded and completed the construction of
\nmakeshift classrooms -- simple wooden structures covered with
\ncanvas tarp -- for students in Lam Pisang, a town about six
\nkilometers from Banda Aceh.<\/p>\n
They plan to build nine more of these temporary classrooms in
\nother areas to improve the learning environment of Acehnese
\nstudents. Over 500 school buildings have been burned down by
\nunidentified arsonists since the military operation began a month
\nago.<\/p>\n
Still, even with their principle of neutrality and commitment
\nto helping those in need, not all appreciate nor understand PMI's
\nwork.<\/p>\n
Riya said there were previous incidents in which PMI
\nambulances were shot at by, again, unknown people. And in recent
\nweeks, the PMI has began receiving prank calls from people
\nclaiming to have found bodies.<\/p>\n
\"But this will not hamper our work, because we are prepared
\nfor the worst,\" Riya said.<\/p>\n
As soon as he finished speaking, the phone rang. A resident
\nhad called to report a dead body floating in a river in the Aceh
\nBesar district.<\/p>\n
Riya hopped into an ambulance with a few volunteers and off
\nthey went to do what they are good at -- cleaning the mess left
\nafter every battle.<\/p>\n
YS Tong is a visiting journalist from Bangkok-based
\nSoutheast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA).<\/p>",
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