5,000 migrants from Java left in limbo in Aceh

5,000 migrants from Java left in limbo in Aceh

Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

Some 5,000 people or 1,300 transmigrant families from Java, who
fled Aceh last year following major conflict in the province,
have returned to Aceh, as the situation has returned to normal
here.

Unfortunately, they have no place to stay as their homes were
burned down during the conflict in the troubled province last
year. They are now left in limbo, residing in refugee camps in
three regencies in the province, pending on renovations and
construction of their houses by the government, said a government
official on Tuesday.

Abdul Kadir, the head of transmigration agency of the
population mobility section in Aceh, said the transmigrants were
staying in Nagan Raya, West Aceh and Aceh Jaya regencies.

He said that, in order to accommodate them, the government is
planning to build and renovate some 550 units for the
transmigrants in the three provinces. This project is set to be
completed this year, while another project for 736 houses would
be conducted in 2005.

According to Abdul Kadir, the 1,300 families were part of a
total of some 8,000 families of Java transmigrants in Aceh that
had fled the troubled province.

A major armed conflict erupted throughout Aceh last year,
after the Indonesian government declared martial law, which was
then followed by major military operations to quell the Free Aceh
Movement (GAM) rebels.

Fearing of the bloody conflict, the Achenese fled to nearby
neighboring provinces and some headed back to their relatives in
Java.

Some transmigrants had returned to Java after GAM gained
popularity in Aceh following the demise of the iron-fist Soeharto
regime in 1998. The Javanese have been the target of GAM, who
perceived the Javanese as the "conquerors" of the province. GAM
were also dissatisfied that Aceh resources were taken to Java
during Soeharto regime, which left the Acehnese in a poor state.

The situation in Aceh is now again under the control of the
Indonesian military (TNI), after a one-year long major military
operation. Armed conflicts between Indonesian soldiers and GAM
rebels are still continuing but on a much lesser scale, prompting
the government to elevate security status in the province to
civil emergency from martial law since May this year. The safe
situation has then allowed Acehnese and also Javanese
transmigrants to return to their respective homes in Aceh.