Domestic refugees left unprotected in international law

Domestic refugees left unprotected in international law

By Heru Susetyo

JAKARTA (JP): It is chilling -- the image of thousands of
people fleeing to forests from the violence that has killed
hundreds, or the jostling to make it to departing ships that will
sail the forced migrants to safety far from their property and
adopted homeland.

The suffering of the Madurese in the Central Kalimantan cities
of Sampit and Palangkaraya in recent attacks by the native Dayaks
was a repeat of the tragedy that befell the Madurese during their
conflict with the Malays in Sambas, West Kalimantan between 1998-
1999. Then, hundreds of Madurese were killed and approximately
65,000 of them were displaced. Many of those refugees are now
still sheltering in various camps.

In Aceh, thousands who have fled the conflict between armed
separatists and the military are still scattered in various
refugee camps in Lhokseumawe, Sigli and North Sumatra. They have
faced hardship, as have more than 200,000 refugees scattered in
Poso of Central Sulawesi, in North Sulawesi, and in Ternate in
North Maluku.

Take Ternate. Its population prior to the conflict was around
100,000. It has now doubled since then. Competition for resources
and livelihood has caused an escalation of not only unemployment
but also crime and other social problems.

In Jambula village, Ternate, some 1,500 people have been
sheltering in a 125-square-meter warehouse of the local logistics
agency (Dolog). The inadequate living conditions include low
roofing, poor ventilation and only three toilets for all of the
refugees. In Kalumpang refugee camp in Ternate City, hundreds of
refugees are sheltering in a half-finished building with no walls
or electricity.

During the height of the unrest in Poso last year, some 70,000
people abandoned the city and fled to the neighboring areas of
Palu, Ampana, Luwuk, Makassar and Manado.

In Palu, most of the refugees have been sheltering in Gawalise
stadium where widows, orphans and hundreds of children who no
longer attend school roam aimlessly. In Poso, only five medical
doctors were in service in July 2000 to help the refugees.

What has the government been doing? Refugees, local officials
and volunteers alike have posed this question on numerous
occasions when discussing the situation facing the refugees.

Rather than taking strategic measures to handle the problem,
the government has been dragging its feet and has failed to show
any well-defined concept as to how it should assist the refugees.

In some conflict-hit areas, thousands have been classified as
refugees for more than two years. In Bacan, North Maluku, no day
goes by without several refugees dying of various diseases.

It is the nongovernmental organizations that have been working
hardest to help ease the hardship of refugees, be they foreign
groups such as World Vision, Medicine Sans Frontier, Save the
Children Fund, or domestic ones such as Dompet Dhuafa of the
Republika daily, MER-C (Medical Emergency Rescue Committee).

In January, by virtue of Presidential Decree No. 3/2001 the
government established the National Coordinating Board for
Disaster and Refugee Management.

Headed by the Vice President and manned by ministers, military
commanders, police chiefs and governors, the body resembles that
of a cabinet. Volunteers sneer at the body that has failed to
include those who have really been working out there all this
time, such as social and religious organizations as well as local
people.

Where does the international world come in? Provisions for the
protection of refugees are contained in many documents such as
the UN charter of human rights. A number of legal instruments for
the protection of war victims, civilians (women, children and the
elderly) and minorities, are already in place.

But do those instruments affect the rights of internally
displaced people in Indonesia?

Unfortunately, they do not.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has
not worked for refugees in Aceh, Poso, Sampit, Palangkaraya or
Maluku because those are considered domestic matters. It has
assigned staff members only to places where there are
internationally displaced migrants -- such as in the border areas
of East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.

In a way, the absence of UNHCR staff in hotspots in Aceh,
Kalimantan and Maluku complies with the Indonesian government's
wishes. Once when there were reports about the UNHCR's intention
to send a team to Aceh, the government managed to effectively
halt the plan citing unnecessary foreign intervention in domestic
problems.

In addition, existing human rights instruments have been
established to protect internationally displaced migrants rather
than domestic migrants. This explains why domestic refugees do
not enjoy the same protection as they would under international
law.

However, regardless of the discussion on the government's
failure to act or on the international world's ignorance, the
fact remains that thousands of refugees in Indonesia are
suffering. There is no time to wait. The primary responsibility
of the government should be to assist its citizens, though
everyone else seems to have to bear their own responsibility.

The writer is a lawyer, lecturer at the University of
Indonesia's Law School, and director of the Indonesian Center for
Legal and Human Rights Advocacy (PAHAM).