EU concerned about access to Aceh after aid worker detained

EU concerned about access to Aceh after aid worker detained

Agence France Presse
Jakarta

The European Union will question the Indonesian government about
a "disturbing" lack of access to war-torn Aceh province after one
of its aid workers was detained there overnight, a diplomat said
Friday.

"It is really disturbing that we face such a situation of
access," said Ulrich Eckle, a political counselor in Jakarta for
the EU's executive arm, the European Commission (EC).

"I think we will have to take it up with the government," he
said, adding that European Union member states would be briefed
later Friday.

Eckle told AFP that Karin Michotte, a Belgian aid worker, was
taken into custody soon after she arrived in Aceh on Tuesday even
though she had an authorization letter from the social affairs
ministry to visit.

"She spent the night in quasi-detention at an immigration
facility in a cell," he said.

"The door was left open and she could go out and make phone
calls but she could not go back to her hotel till the next
morning and had to report three or four times to the army."

Aceh was placed under martial law when a major military
operation was launched on May 19 against separatist rebels. Eckle
said it appeared that local authorities decided what was needed
in the way of permits.

He said Michotte had been able to meet some non-governmental
organizations and United Nations agencies in Aceh and found
"quite a number of disturbing things."

"These agencies are effectively cut off, with one or two
exceptions, from the people.

"They have to sign papers that they will have no contact with
local people, which compromises all professionality, and once
they leave (Aceh) they are not allowed to return."

Eckle said the restrictions on access were "quite
unprecedented." Some UN aid groups were being obliged to travel
in army trucks, which was completely against humanitarian rules,
he said.

He said Michotte had been unable to assess aid needs and
without this it would not be possible to extend aid through the
EC Humanitarian Office. "We can't just load relief goods on army
trucks, we need to be independent."

Eckle said there were indications of humanitarian problems
with many people apparently forced from their homes in conflict
areas into refugee camps.

He said he had heard there was still a lack of water for
washing in the camps and many people with respiratory problems.

"If it goes on there might be a risk of epidemics, quite apart
from the trauma for families."

Indonesia says it is moving civilians for their own safety.
Between 30,000 and 40,000 people have left their homes.

An order issued last month by martial law rulers bans foreign
tourists from Aceh and severely restricts the operations of
foreign aid workers and local and foreign journalists.

Some foreign media reports of rights abuses by troops have
angered the military.