Families struggle daily in Acehnese refugee camps
By Ati Nurbaiti
PIDIE, Aceh (JP): At 6 a.m. a baby girl was born to 20-year- old Ernawati from a refugee center housing 2,500 Acehnese. She was rushed to a makeshift maternity ward at the local community center but would have to leave hours later if the center ran out of beds.
The same center, now occupied by residents from three villages on the border of Pidie and North Aceh, is already home to two- week-old twins. "I am relieved now that I have given birth," said Eli Juariyah, 24, of her fifth and sixth children.
She looked strong while suckling Juminah, a girl, after dressing Bismi, a boy. But her milk was drying up, she said, and subsidized milk for pregnant mothers had run out. Across from her cramped quarters a one-month-old baby shares a makeshift tent with his family.
"The sound of babies crying and coughing at night is saddening," said Imawan, a student volunteer. "We have repeatedly asked the authorities for a medical post here, to no avail. At least the inhabitants would feel better with medical workers among them."
Help is almost nonexistent, contributions come from individuals. Nony, a volunteer, was happy when she heard of a contribution large enough to buy 100 bunches of bananas for the infants, as well as some biscuits. Many infants have been treated for fever and diarrhea.
It is not certain when the situation will improve.
A refugee shelter on the border of Pidie and North Aceh in Samalanga district is one with a slightly happier atmosphere among about 12 centers housing hordes of people in cramped settings.
At this shelter on the grounds of a school, laughter and shouts are still heard as men play badminton, boys climb trees and girls play elastics.
Women cook vegetables on small stoves -- a luxury compared to other centers. They are given access to a stove and can provide additional side dishes for their families because they have been here for almost two months.
"As a rule, all refugees must get equal treatment," says Farida Haryani of the Yadesa community development foundation who is checking on refugees here.
Everyone only gets rice and salted fish every day in the beginning. Sometimes other things are available.
"My son had begun to throw the rice around and cried, saying we should go home," says Nuraini, one of at least 54,000 refugees in Pidie.
"This is a school building, what are we doing here?" she said, quoting her four year old.
The family had joined some 1,000 neighbors fleeing Krueng Meuseugop village when Crack Riot Troops (PPRM) entered the area without warning. Paddy fields with newly planted rice, peanuts and other crops were left behind.
Similar to stories in other shelters, people who went back to their villages to check on how things were found the crops had been eaten by cows, houses had been broken into and valuables were gone. Their vacated villages were guarded by soldiers. "Who else would have taken our belongings?" asks another woman.
No one knows when they can return. With the new school year entering the second week their children's education is being disrupted.
A sense of regular life is provided by student volunteers who give afternoon Koran reading classes to children at the shelters. Inhabitants continue to prayer five times a day, washing themselves first at the few available facilities. In the exodus, among the few essentials women grabbed was their prayer attire. At mosques, women wearing their prayer attire do not look like they have come from the multitude of make-shift tents exposed to the wind and rain.
At the shelter in Samalanga, men give way to women and children and sleep outside at night.
But in other places -- the worst being on the grounds of Daud Beurueh Mosque in Sigli housing some 20,000 people -- babies and the elderly join their families at night in the open.
"Those who came earlier will not give up their places," says a village chief, Abenon. The luckier ones have taken up all the space on the second and lower floors of the local pesantren (boarding school).
Men and women were seen preparing a safer bed to sleep on -- they arranged mounds of sand, a contribution, on the earth and covered it with thin plastic sheeting to prevent damp seeping through.
People take turns cooking and lining up at the public kitchens. A virtual feast was in sight on Thursday as some rich neighbors had contributed cows in the Maulid commemoration of the anniversary of Prophet Muhammad's birth.
Less than 10 medical staff were on hand, working in shifts, for the 20,000 people. They wait at the health facility for anyone coming to report ailments.
By morning, two more people -- a 60-year-old man and an 18- year-old woman -- had died, meaning 10 refugees had died while 15 had been born, including twins, according to latest records in Pidie. The young woman, Nurmala, had respiratory problems before she entered the shelter, a medical staffer said.
Even if residents have relatives living in safe places, "refugees have set rules that they are all in one boat, and they will stick together", Farida said. This makes matters worse regarding space and volunteers expect more refugees to arrive.
In a shelter in Bandar Baru district, the only two toilets have been sealed shut "because they can't take anymore", a volunteer, Erlina, said and inhabitants were resorting to relieving themselves in "floating toilets" on the nearby river.
This is where 1,075 refugees not only swarm the space in and outside the pesantren building, but whole families are also found under rumah panggung (houses on stilts).
A baby was born here on Thursday. The mother, Zuhab, was taken to the local community health center but was transported back hours later. "There were already other women among refugees waiting in line to give birth," Cut Pusri Ulha, another volunteer, said.
Zuhab, 30, and her newborn, her fourth child, were taken to a neighbor's home where she lay on a mat, still bleeding. Slightly older infants and their mothers are provided a corner in the pesantren building.
Here, a man showing signs of stress has been sent to a psychiatric hospital in Banda Aceh, the capital. "He was going to jump from the window and was shouting that he would kill everyone," Cut Pusri said.
The villages were holding feasts during their Maulid celebrations when the troops came. "Who can guarantee our safety when we return?" a man asked. Worms were found in the scattered rice when a few ventured back days later.
Residents say they can only return if the government withdraws the military, especially the PPRM comprising soldiers and police. Otherwise, "other troops could come in from the north or anywhere", Abenon said.
Meanwhile the military has said residents are fleeing harassment and intimidation by Free Aceh rebels. But refugees who say they do not know who the rebels are have said they fled the PPRM, now infamously known as Pasukan Penyebab Rakyat Mengungsi (Troops Causing People to Flee).