Buton has to feed more than 170,000 refugees
Buton has to feed more than 170,000 refugees
Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Buton
Refugees, sadly, share a common fate everywhere.
Invariably predestined to suffering, they are very often targeted for assault by local inhabitants in the places to which they have fled.
Not unlike Aceh, Kalimantan and East Nusa Tenggara, Buton regency accommodates a large number of refugees. The year 2000 census recorded that, out of the 530,000 people living in Buton, 170,000 were refugees.
People from Ambon constituted 160,000 of the total number of displaced; the remainder were from East Timor.
The flow of refugees to Buton began in 1999, when violence pitting Christians against Muslims swept Ambon.
The refugees first arrived in Buton at the Murhum port which has, so far, also served as a transit port for passengers from Ambon to Makassar, Surabaya and Jakarta.
The influx of people fleeing Ambon was followed by waves of East Timorese refugees in the wake of massacres by TNI-backed militias that accompanied a United Nations referendum on independence in in August 1999.
Buton has become a paradise for refugees because the island is open to outsiders. Only a small number of them have continued on to Makassar, Surabaya and Jakarta.
"We prefer to resettle here rather than in Java," said Arman, a 34-year-old East Timorese refugee from East Java who has resettled in Buton.
Abdullah, 29, a refugee from Batu Gong village, Bagoala subdistrict, said that life on Buton island was not much different from Ambon.
"Buton's beach is similar to Ambon's," he told The Jakarta Post at a refugee camp in Betoambari subdistrict.
Abdullah and his wife Ratna, 27, decided to seek jobs in Buton. They have tried their hand at just about everything they can to make a living -- from hawking goods as sidewalk traders to working casual laborers.
As day workers, they earn some Rp 15,000 per day to sustain of their family, which includes two sons, Ikhwan, 8, and Minar, 4.
"We have to work to be able to send our children to school because assistance from the government is inadequate," he said; Ikhwan is now a 4th grader at the elementary school level.
Abdullah is a prime example of a refugee with the resourcefulness to survive in a refugee camp. Indeed, there are actually many other "Abdullahs" in Buton -- some of them have even become budding entrepreneurs.
Refugees in Bau-Bau have entered a whole new socio-economic level, according to Darmawati L.Gaho, an NGO activist.
While some of the refugees have managed to rise above their considerable problems, however, many still live in despair as jobless, homeless vagrants.
Sadly, dozens of young children have turned to beggary, hustling strangers in the areas around Murhum harbor. They descend aggressively on anybody they happen to see, and often force them to give over some money.
"They always get together here and ask visitors for money, usually by force -- just don't comply with their request," advised an officer at a Champion telephone stall at Murhun harbor.
It is no secret that some of the girls from the refugee camp have resorted to prostitution as a means of survival. Usually, they can be found at pubs or sleazy karaoke bars.
"If you want one, I can get you one at Rp 75,000," said a pimp. These young sex workers, she said, sleep only with migrants "lest their identity be known."
Darmawati is studying them as part of her research on the likely spread of HIV/AIDS in Buton. "Some of them were prostitutes even before they came here," she said.
Clearly, a refugee's life is a tough one. Uncertainty about survival and inadequate accommodation have conspired to effectively wreck the refugees psychologically.
"We used to lead a decent life but, suddenly, we were thrown into an exile of sorts ... for several years now; it is indeed hard," said Abdullah, who voiced hope that the local government officials and people will sympathize with their plight.
The refugees do not ask for much. It would be enough for them to be accepted by the locals.
"We are aware that some of us have stirred trouble -- but, please, do not generalize and always blame us," he pleaded.
Marlyn Bida, a humanitarian activist who has previously worked with East Timorese refugees in Kupang, said the toughest thing of all refugees face is the psychological trauma from the events that made them homeless in the first place.
"Refugees can get emotional easily because of their mental trauma," said Bida said during an interview in Makassar.
It is usually this post-traumatic state that can trigger illogical behavior, she said, making refugees prone to angry outbursts and stirring up confusion. These problems are serious and must be properly handled, she added.
She has asked the local administration not to concentrate on providing physical assistance, and pay attention to mental rehabilitation, she said.
"If the refugees in Buton are to be completely blamed for anything related to crime, this is certainly wrong -- the local administration must assume responsibility," she said. "Do not blame them and then expel them, as that is tantamount to gradually killing them."
Instead, Maryln has a proposal for the refugees in Buton. The local government must not let itself be trapped by an insistence on determining who is to blame, and who is not.
They must find a compromise and a solution, she said. Efforts must be made, for example, to bring together refugees and locals under a common humanitarian program.
"Do not let them shoulder a heavier burden in their lives," she said. "They have suffered enough."
"Anyway, they are our fellow citizens."