Aceh refugees longing to return home

Aceh refugees longing to return home

Dedy Ardiansyah, The Jakarta Post, Medan

An 18-year-old girl named Evi is sitting alone on top of a
plastic mat, while arranging several pieces of used clothes. She
refused to talk, only mumbling a few unrecognizable words. The
whereabouts of her parents and relatives were unknown after the
tsunami disaster.

Evi, is one of the hundreds of Acehnese refugees who are
staying in makeshift refugee camps in Medan. She and other
refugees lived inside a 200x400-meter mill factory which was
opened for this purpose by Aceh Sepakat community organization.

Outside the factory, the children were playing happily as if
they have forgotten about the disaster that took their parents
away from their sides.

A refugee from Meulaboh, 41-year-old Ali Umar could only stare
at those children as he lost his three children and his wife.

"I miss this situation where the children are playing and my
wife is preparing dinner," he said quietly.

His yearning for his hometown has motivated him to return to
Ujung Karang, Meulaboh as soon as possible.

"I want to go home and try to find my relatives. I hope
they're still alive," he said with uncertain tones.

Recalling his past, he used to be a fisherman in Meulaboh. He
had five boats which all were perished during the tsunami.

"I can't stay here forever, I have to start a new life. Get a
job, find something to eat and hopefully I still have relatives
left in Meulaboh," he said.

A similar story was told by Erniwati, who used to live in the
city of Banda Aceh. She was hoping to find her daughter Rini
Agustin, who survived from the deadly wave. However Erni lost her
husband and her parents.

"Aceh is my home soil. I will accept the fact if I found them
already dead. I will return to Banda Aceh once my condition is
much better," she said.

Ali and Ernawati are several of Acehnese refugees who are
eager to return to their hometown to rebuild their houses. Trauma
of earthquake and tsunami does not deter their intention of
coming back.

Other refugees, Syaiful and Badaruddin also expressed their
intention to come home to Aceh. Badaruddin even quit his job as a
security guard in Malaysia to find 20 of his missing relatives.

According to data from the Aceh Sepakat relief post in Medan,
there are more than one thousand Acehnese refugees who are
currently staying in eight camps.

Fauzi Usman, head of the Aceh Sepakat community organization
said that one-third of those refugees have already returned to
Aceh.

"They wouldn't stand staying here for long. Their will to find
their remaining relatives are so strong and we cannot stand in
their way," Fauzi said.

Fauzi explained that Aceh community has its own tradition and
culture. Family bonding among them are so strong it cannot be
destroyed even by tsunami disaster, although it has wiped away
around three generations.

"We should never forget about the original values of Aceh
culture when we're rebuilding the region back. The government
should be careful and not make hasty plan in restructuring Aceh,"
Fauzi said.

Evi's suffering and that of thousands of other Acehnese
refugees should motivate the government to rebuild Aceh. With the
help of local residents and the world community, tsunami-hit
areas in the province can be rebuilt without leaving its original
culture and tradition that has been with them for centuries.