Ambon refugees suffer lack of food, medicine

By Upik Jupriadi

BUTON, Southeast Sulawesi (JP): At least 50,878 Ambon refugees sheltered on Buton Island, about 220 kilometers west of Kendari, are in poor condition due to limited availability of food and medical supplies.

Many of them have fallen ill due to the unsuitable surroundings. Sixteen of them have died mainly due to diarrhea since their first arrival to the island early this year.

According to Antara news agency, the number of deaths have already reached 25 as of early last month.

The influx of refugees to the island was sparked by communal clashes between Muslims and Christians in Maluku which erupted in mid-January. More than 300 people were killed in the clashes, which forced tens of thousands of people to flee the province.

Based on The Jakarta Post's observation at the makeshift refugee centers on the island on Thursday, conditions were worsened by the poor quality of refugee centers as many of them did not meet health standards.

One of the refugees, identified only as Ali, said that the refugees badly needed a better condition of refugee centers. "We need houses, sir," he said.

Syamsuddin Kasim, spokesman for the local administration of Buton, said that he was puzzled by difficulties to subsidize the refugees since beside the small amount of funds, assistance from donators were also limited.

"The local administration's capability is limited. Imagine, we have to feed thousands of people every day," he said.

Syamsuddin explained that in the city center the refugees were temporarily accommodated in four locations, namely the Muslim Orphanage compound, the Islamic Religion Institute (STIA Buton), the Buton Joint Activities Studio and the meeting hall at Tomba village. All of them are located at the Wolio district.

Other refugees were sheltered in 19 districts at the Buton outskirts with the most crowded being registered in Lakulo district.

Data at the local command post showed that the refugees consisted of 11,321 families, including 6,286 children, most of whom were prone to various diseases.

The most common disease infecting the refugees was diarrhea, followed by cholera. "Many people were infected with cholera last month, but the outbreak could be handled due to medical assistance from the army and the medical school of the University of Indonesia," an officer of the post said.

The officer, who was not identified, said that the cholera outbreak hit 20 refugees, including under-age children and an infant.

In a bid to help relieve the refugees' burden, the Buton administration is currently trying to move them to other islands or other regions as transmigrants, Syamsuddin said.

He said that in the first stage 500 of the refugees would be sent to Kolaka. "The move is intended to help avoid conflicts between the refugees and local residents of Buton," he said.

Syamsuddin said that the refugee problem was feared to cause a social problem on the island if it was not solved as soon as possible.

Yusran, 24, a Buton resident, said that many refugees had taken over local jobs, such as becoming ojek (motorcycle taxi) and pedicab drivers.

"Some of them have even turned themselves into prostitutes. This is feared to spark conflicts with the indigenous residents, who are mostly devout Muslims," he said.

Many local people expressed fear that they would face stiff competition from the newcomers who had started to become traders. "It is feared they will automatically take over the indigenous people's economic role," Yusran said.