Families of GAM guerrillas waiting for reunion

Families of GAM guerrillas waiting for reunion

Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Aceh Besar

Families of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) guerrillas are hopeful they
will soon be reunited with their sons, husbands and fathers after
the signing of a peace deal between the government and the rebel
group.

But some are worried about the safety of their loves ones once
they come down from the mountains and surrender their weapons, or
after they are released from prison. These concerns come amid
reports that thousands of militia members allegedly linked to the
Indonesian Military are active in Aceh and have threatened to
kill GAM members.

There are also concerns about whether the former rebels will
be able to reintegrate into society and find good jobs.

"I haven't seen my husband for months, but people say he has
been undertaking paramilitary training with other GAM guerrillas

"I hope I can see him soon, but I am not sure he will be safe
back in society or whether he can get a job and support us,"
Nursida, a mother of two, told The Jakarta Post recently.

Nursida's husband, Azahri, was a construction worker before he
joined GAM. Since Azahri left, Nursida has made money to support
herself and her children by running a food stall, from which she
earns about Rp 200,000 (about US$20) a month.

"I heard that GAM members will receive a plot of land once
they surrender their weapons. Is that true? How? Whose land will
it be?" she asked.

The government and GAM signed a peace deal on Monday in
Helsinki in a bid to end three decades of conflict in the
province that has claimed about 15,000 lives, and to open the way
for the reconstruction of the tsunami-hit province.

As part of the peace accord, GAM agreed to drop its demand for
the independence of the resource-rich province and to disarm its
3,000 guerrillas. In return the government will provide GAM
members with amnesty, withdraw thousands of military soldiers and
police officers from the province and provide jobs and land for
GAM members. More than 1,400 GAM members will be released from
prisons across the country by the end of this month as agreed in
the peace deal.

The government pledged on Friday that it would protect former
rebels when they return home.

"If they cannot return safely to their villages, we will allow
them to stay in the capital until they can return home safely,"
said Minister of Information and Communications Sofyan Djalil.

"I am not too excited about the economic compensation package.
For now, what is most important to me is to be reunited safely
with my husband. That is more important than anything else
because the children need him and so do I," Nursida said.

Another Acehnese woman, Yusmiarti, is upbeat about this latest
peace deal.

"I thank God for allowing the government and GAM to sign a
peace agreement so I can raise my children with my husband
standing beside me," said Yusmiarti, 30, whose husband, Madani,
is in Jantho Penitentiary in Aceh Besar regency for treason.

Madani was taken from his family soon after the military began
an operation to crush GAM in mid-May 2003, after a December 2002
truce failed with both sides accusing the other of violating the
accord.

Yusmiarti said she did not know if her husband was really a
member of the separatist group. She said that when the military
took away her husband, she thought she would never see him again.

"My neighbors told me my husband was interrogated at a
military post in Bekamilui. He stood trial for treason and was
sent to prison to serve a one-year-eight-month sentence," she
said.

Yusmiarti was forced to become the breadwinner for their
daughters, Ilahmina, 8, and Mauda, 5. She made about Rp 150,000 a
month doing different jobs, enough to feed her children and visit
her husband in prison two or three times a month.

Madani was among 48 GAM prisoners released by the government
on Wednesday after they received remissions as part of the
country's Independence Day.