Acehnese refugees allege aid embezzlement

Acehnese refugees allege aid embezzlement

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Langkat, North Sumatra

A number of Acehnese refugees have alleged that food and
financial relief earmarked for Acehnese people taking refuge in
numerous camps in Langkat regency has been misappropriated,
saying many refugees have received only part of the assistance
distributed by the government.

Suryadi Awal, coordinator of Acehnese Refugees in North
Sumatra (ARSINS), said that the majority of 16,527 refugees
registered in the regencies had not received food and financial
aid in accordance with the allocation set by the central
government.

"Many refugees have only received rice and its portion does
not match the allocation determined by the government, while many
others have only received allocations supposed to last several
months during their stay in the refugee camps," he told The
Jakarta Post here on Saturday.

According to the government's ruling, every refugee should
receive Rp 1,500 (US$0.15) and 400 grams of rice per day, while
the local social affairs ministry office has made one-off
distributions of financial and food assistance for 120-day (four-
month) periods.

Suryadi, who has been staying at a camp in the regency with
his relatives, said he has never received the aid in accordance
with the amount determined by the government.

"According to our data, 95 percent of refugees have not
received the cash and rice aid in accordance with its correct
quantity and we suspect that a majority of the aid has been
embezzled by those who have been assigned to distribute it," he
said, citing reports of the leakage of cash and rice aid for
refugees to the North Sumatra provincial legislative council.

Should the local social affairs ministry office stick to the
government's ruling, a refugee should receive Rp 168,000 and 32.8
kilograms of rice for 120 days, he added.

Salim Udin who has been in a refugee camp in Air Hitam, Gebang
subdistrict, for one-and-a-half years, said that he and his four-
member family have only received Rp 168,000 and 19.1 kg of rice
in the whole time they had been there.

"No more than that," he said insistently.

Rosmala, who left Banda Sakti, North Aceh, with her four
children after her husband was killed by Aceh separatist rebels
in September 2000, said she had only received allocations of rice
from the local social affairs ministry office totaling 32 kg.

"We appeal to the local government not to steal the aid for
refugees because we are facing uncertainty and have lost
everything we owned," she said.

Yusuf Sangali, another refugee, said the refugees were sure
the cash and rice aid allocated to them had been reduced by the
central government, but unscrupulous officers assigned to
distribute it had put aside part of the aid for themselves.

Bachtiar Sonar, deputy chairman of the provincial legislative
council, said the legislature would summon the local social
affairs ministry office regarding the alleged leakage of aid for
refugees.

"The local administration should demonstrate accountability in
handling the refugees," he said.

Rizal Sirait, secretary of the legislature's Commission V on
social affairs, said his commission would also ask the local
police to investigate any possible embezzlement.

"Local officers suspected of embezzling the aid for refugees
must be arrested and put in jail," he said, adding it would be
shameful if it was true that the aid for refugees was being
embezzled.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim, spokesman for the North Sumatra
Police, said police would certainly carry out an investigation
after receiving an official report from the local administration
and the legislature.

"If evidence shows that they are guilty, those who have
corrupted the aid for refugees will be taken to court," he said.

Sofyan Nasution, chief of the local social affairs ministry
office, conceded that some refugees had not received any aid from
the government because they had not yet been registered.

"However, it is embezzlement if there are refugees only
receiving rice, and those are involved in such crimes will be
given stiff penalties," he said.

He said the central government had not disbursed aid for the
refugees for the June-October period.