Aceh refugees in North Sumatra just want to go home
Aceh refugees in North Sumatra just want to go home
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
About 2,000 Acehnese refugees occupying 15 resettlement camps in several parts of Langkat regency, North Sumatra, are determined to return home, but worsening security conditions in Aceh have prevented their speedy return.
Coordinator of Acehnese Refugees in North Sumatra (ARSINS) Suryadi Awal said in Medan on Monday that the refugees who wanted to return to their home villages were those with families, while unmarried refugees were choosing to join the government's transmigration program.
According to Suryadi, those refugees who wanted to be returned to their home villages and who should have departed last July have demanded compensation from the government of Rp 30-40 million per family for loss of property following clashes with the separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM).
In July, the East Aceh regency administration planned to open a refugee transit center in Kejuruan Muda, Kuala Simpang, but failed to implement the plan due to unfavorable security conditions. Another location, on Tiga island, Tamiang Hulu district, also in East Aceh, was set aside instead.
East Aceh Regent Azman Usmanuddin on October 2 promised to move the refugees to a safe zone stretching from West Langsa to Kuala Simpang, but again the scheme failed to materialize, this time for no apparent reason, despite the fact that a delegation of refugees had visited the regent's office.
"We have been waiting for concrete actions from the regent. Many of the refugees can no longer stand living in evacuation camps and want to go back to Aceh soon," Suryadi told The Jakarta Post.
Bachtiar (50), a refugee from Beureun Bayeun, East Aceh, who claimed to have been evacuated to Langkat after eight months, said he could not bear living in a situation where basic necessities for his family were completely lacking. "We may end up committing criminal acts if we keep on living this way," he said to the Post at the ARSINS secretariat in Medan.
"The government should take the initiative and send us home instead of waiting for us to present our demands," Bachtiar said. He added that, as it was GAM that had forced him to leave Aceh, the government should announce in writing when Aceh was safe enough for the refugees to return.
Some of the resettled Acehnese, however, preferred to stay in North Sumatra or join migration schemes. "Though it's now safe, it is because of the presence of security forces. We want to see peace in Aceh, even without the military and police or GAM," said Sapda Priono, a refugee in Lau Dendang, who will soon migrate to Lampung.
Meanwhile, the head of the North Sumatra social affairs office Sofyan Nasution welcomed the refugees' plans to return home, saying that the government's slow response was due to the fact that his office had not yet been informed of their demands.
"We welcome their intention to return to Aceh and ask them to immediately register themselves with the social affairs office for prompt departure," Sofyan Nasution said.