Displaced N. Malukans to receive special IDs

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.