Displaced N. Malukans to receive special IDs

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

As the security situation has largely become more stable in North Maluku province, some 5,100 displaced North Malukans will be sent to their hometowns in early December, an official has said.

Head of Maluku Displaced Persons Embarkation Team Rahman Soumena said that they would receive special ID cards before they could board boats that will take them home. The card will also entitle them to financial aid.

The provision of the ID cards was aimed at preventing irresponsible persons (bogus refugees) from profiting from the aid, he said.

"Those who do not have the ID cards will not get aid," he said here recently in Ambon, the provincial capital of Maluku.

To obtain the ID cards, the people must register with government officials at the Maluku Office of People's Welfare.

They have to show those cards to the officials before they can board the boats.

According to Rahman, there had been many cases where the number of refugees on board exceeded the number listed on the data as there were bogus refugees who went aboard.

He cited an example where Maluku refugees in Sorong were sent back last August. The Sorong government reported that there were 500 refugees, whereas the number of those who arrived at the Navy Port in Ambon was 584.

"It resulted in a disorganized aid distribution, accommodation and living costs," said Rahman.

Therefore, he said, refugees should wear the special ID cards to distinguish them from the bogus ones.

Head of the Maluku Office of People's Welfare A.R. Uluputty said that each displaced North Malukan would receive an embarkation fee of Rp 500,000 (US$58.82) for living and transportation costs.

"This is the last of the funds from the Maluku Provincial Government for them. After they arrive in their hometowns, they will be taken care of by the North Maluku Provincial Government," said Uluputty.

Uluputty did not elaborate on whether the 5,000 North Maluku refugees would be the last batch of refugees to be sent back home.

Thousands of people were killed and tens of thousands of people fled their homes during three years -- from 1999 to 2002 -- of brutal Christian-Muslim fighting in Maluku and North Maluku. A peace accord was signed nearly a year ago and the two provinces have slowly returned to normal.