Foreigners presence in Aceh to be limited

Tiarma Siboro and Nani Afrida, The Jakarta Post, Banda Aceh

Acehnese are set to bid farewell to thousands of foreigners who have been sharing their tribulations following the tsunami catastrophe.

Starting March 26, only a limited number of foreigners will be allowed to stay, the National Police's Aceh task force announced on Thursday.

Foreigners working for organizations under the UN, non- governmental organizations and media will have to leave the province as their presence will be no longer be "related to the current situation" here.

The UN agencies on the exit list include the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Children and Education Fund (UNICEF) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will maintain their presence, as will volunteers conducting humanitarian relief.

"I guess the UN acknowledges that even though the disaster has caused massive destruction here, there are no refugees nor migrants but rather internally displaced people (IDP). Therefore, we will review the presence of IOM and UNHCR here because it is the government that must deal with the IDPs," task force chief, Brig. Gen. T. Ashikin, told a press conference.

Foreigners who are not subject to the limitation have to register with the police by March 26, he added.

"It is been understood that UN members have to allow humanitarian relief missions to freely enter disaster-stricken areas even without having a visa on arrival. We (the police), however, have the authority to monitor whether or not their activities have anything to do with the situation in Aceh," Ashikin said.

Currently, no less than 140 NGOs from 83 foreign countries are operating in the province following the tidal waves that swept over nearly one third of Aceh's area and killed no less than 140,000 people. Since registration opened 10 days ago, about 820 foreigners have reported their presence to the police.

The state of civilian emergency is officially still in place until May 19 despite the disaster.

Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Bachrumsyah Kasman, who is the acting Aceh administrator, said the police would also limit the movement of foreigners helping tsunami survivors "for the sake of their own safety".