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.