Disaster unites GAM, Acehnese in brotherhood

Disaster unites GAM, Acehnese in brotherhood

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Lhokseumawe

Iwan Peusong is armed with an object vastly different from a year
and a half ago, when he was a fighter with the Free Aceh Movement
(GAM): He is responsible for one end of a stretcher, carrying the
bodies of those who perished in last Sunday's tsunami.

Along with other volunteers, Iwan has been searching for and
collecting bodies that are scattered throughout Lhokseumawe,
North Aceh regency, as well as helping to distribute food and
medicines to survivors in refugee camps.

"I have a moral responsibility to search for the dead. I can't
leave them unburied after such awful deaths," he told The Jakarta
Post, sifting through the debris of a house in Peusong Lama
village, looking for bodies.

Iwan is among 106 former GAM members and supporters who joined
a team of humanitarian volunteers one day after the tsunami swept
through Aceh and parts of North Sumatra on Dec. 26.

Iwan, like many Acehnese survivors, lost family and friends to
the disaster and suffered minor injuries, but claimed he was fit
enough to undertake humanitarian work.

"I am reenergized when I discover the body of our brothers. As
a native of Aceh, I am proud to help them," he said, adding that
he was happy working alongside Indonesian Military (TNI)
soldiers, who were once his long-time foe. Iwan surrendered just
after the government imposed martial law on Aceh in May 2003.

"It is already an old memory," he said, referring to the many
years he fought against the TNI for an independent Aceh. "I have
buried the hatchet."

Iwan has not been tried for his part in the separatist war
because he surrendered; instead, he was given a three-month
reeducation course to develop a sense of Indonesian nationalism.

Ridwan Ali Basyah, once a staunch GAM supporter from Keude
Aceh village, said former GAM fighters were providing
humanitarian aid services mostly in Muara Batu, Blang Mangat and
Bandar Sakti subdistricts, which were hit hardest by the
disaster.

Ridwan, better known as Wan Lena, said ex-GAM members and
supporters had joined the relief effort in a spirit of solidarity
for fellow Acehnese.

"Those who died were our brothers ... we have to help each
other," said Wan Lena, whose home was destroyed by the tsunami.
He is one of the lucky few, as his wife and all seven children
survived.

Wan Lena said the ex-GAM volunteers kept a low profile and did
not work in an exclusive group.

"We are not affiliated with any non-governmental
organizations, political parties or universities, who deserve to
have their identities known. We just work side by side with
ordinary people," he said, referring to non-Acehnese groups that
have sent humanitarian teams to the town.

The teams arrived on Thursday to collect the dead and to
evacuate the survivors to refugee camps.

The local social services agency said it had no records on the
number of volunteers operating there, which may become an issue
with the advent of post-disaster complications, such as disease,
and food and water rations.

"Sorry, we haven't had the chance to record them," North Aceh
social services head Iskandar Nasri said.