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.