Aceh refugees still can't leave camps
Aceh refugees still can't leave camps
Nani Farida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh, Aceh
Around 23,500 refugees are still stuck in Aceh. According to a
non-governmental organization they're spread between at least 37
camps and other locations across the troubled province and refuse
to return home due to security concerns.
The People Crisis Centre (PCC), which has established units in
all refugee camps in Aceh, says fears of further attacks and
intimidation prevented the internally displaced people from
returning to their villages.
Their number was at least 23,444 people by Dec. 31 last year,
PCC internal coordinator Asyraf Fuadi told The Jakarta Post,
citing the data from his group's investigation into all refugee
camps across Aceh.
"The refugees admit to suffering terror and intimidation
especially during battles between rebels and soldiers," he said.
Asyraf said some of the 23,444 Acehnese refugees are living at
mosques and schools and thousands of others have taken refuge at
the houses of their neighbors and families in nearby villages.
He said the PCC believes the number of the Acehnese refugees
could rise as it was difficult to detect those who have sought
safety in the houses of their families and neighbors.
The 23,444 refugees did not include thousands of non-
indigenous Acehnese people who also fled the province to North
Sumatra and refused to return home soon for security reasons.
It shows that a peace agreement signed on Dec. 9, 2002 between
the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and the government has failed
to restore peace in Aceh and prompt the refugees to leave their
camps.
Asyraf confirmed that the peace pact to cease the hostilities
is yet to provide a sense of safety and security among many
Acehnese.
"Refugees who stay at the Bintang Hu Lhoksukon elementary
school in North Aceh regency, and those stuck for almost two
years at Lhok Nibong village in East Aceh regency are good
examples," he said.
"The conditions are deteriorating following a government
decision to cut humanitarian assistance for the refugees
following the Dec. 9 peace agreement," he said.
Local government officials have said the humanitarian aid
would be resumed, but have not confirmed a date.
David Gorman, project manager of the Henry Dunant Centre
(HDC), said the Joint Security Committee (JSC) would visit
villages where the refugees came from to determine whether the
areas were safe or not with the aim of enabling them to return
home.
The peace accord did help reduce the fighting, but sporadic
violence between rebels and soldiers continued to claim lives
from both sides.
Some 10,000 people have died since the conflict for a separate
Islamic state between the government and GAM began in the 1970's.
On top of the death toll the Aceh administration said the
conflict will had left around 184,000 people embroiled in social
problems by the end of last year.
Deputy head of the Aceh social affairs office Sulaiman Daudi
told the Antara news agency that the cases of children and women
being neglected or separated from their families was the most
dominant social problem recorded by the local administration.
There are around 50,000 children and 47,000 women neglected or
separated by their families over the separatist conflicts, he
said.
He said the prolonged economic crisis plaguing Indonesia since
1997 has worsened the social problems in Aceh.
Sulaiman said the provincial administration worked hard to
help resolve the problems by sending the neglected children to
orphanages and other social foundations with at least 132
orphanages currently being managed by local people to take care
of over 11,000 neglected children across Aceh.