Government closes down Galang boatpeople camp
Government closes down Galang boatpeople camp
By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat
GALANG ISLAND, Riau (JP): The island of Galang began a new
chapter yesterday as officials formally closed the Indo-Chinese
camp for boatpeople that has hosted nearly 250,000 asylum-seekers
over the past two decades.
The camp was symbolically shut down in a ceremony attended by
the Asia and Oceania bureau director of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Francois Fouinat, and the head
of Indonesia's Galang '96 humanitarian task force, Maj. Gen. Arie
Kumaat.
Fouinat said the successful repatriation and the closing of
the camp mark a "decent and humanitarian conclusion."
"Indonesia can rightly be proud of the treatment of the
boatpeople in Galang and their repatriation," he said in front of
some 100 assembled security guards and staff members who have
overseen the last months of repatriation.
He conveyed a special message of thanks to the local residents
of Galang, who, despite living modestly, extended a gracious
welcome to the boatpeople. At times, the number of boatpeople
living there reached 25,000.
Located just south of Singapore, Galang was opened as a
temporary shelter for Vietnamese and Cambodian boatpeople in
1975.
While the 80-square-kilometer island is now quiet with only 60
resident families living there, the island has sheltered more
than 248,000 boatpeople over two decades.
In an attempt to finally resolve the problem of the boatpeople
in Southeast Asia, the UNHCR earlier this year set an end of
September deadline before cutting funding for most of its camps
in the region.
Most leaving Galang earlier this year were boatpeople who had
been identified as economic refugees and not eligible for
political asylum in a third country.
To expedite the repatriation, Jakarta in June established an
inter-departmental task force with the Armed Forces. Using mostly
naval transports the task force was able to repatriate 4,500
boatpeople in the past three months.
Indonesia is also anxious to develop Galang as part of the
ambitious Barelang (Batam, Rempang and Galang islands) bonded
zone area. Construction is already underway to construct bridges
linking the three islands.
The last group of boatpeople was returned last week.
Fouinat hailed Indonesia's success in peacefully and
persuasively carrying out the repatriation.
"It has been conducted in a dignified and humanitarian way,"
he said.
Maj. Gen. Arie Kumaat said Indonesia was proud it could assist
and will continue to extend humanitarian assistance whenever
possible.
"Humanitarian duties will always exist as long as human beings
are alive," he remarked.
Before touring the abandoned makeshift huts which used to
house the boatpeople, Kumaat and Fouinat signed an agreement to
hand over all of the UNHCR's infrastructure on the island to the
Indonesian government.
UNHCR's representative to Indonesia, Robert Cooper, would not
reveal the nominal value but said the infrastructure basically
consisted of buildings, cars and the island's water system which
he said was one of the best in the area.
Some of the worthier buildings remaining include a hospital
and its hospital beds.
When asked, Cooper told The Jakarta Post that there are 12
boatpeople currently awaiting departure at the nearby Tanjung
Pinang port for relocation to a third country. They will be
leaving for Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
Yesterday's ceremony on Galang was capped off by bayonet-and-
pistol-touting soldiers singing the John Lennon composition of
peace and hope, Imagine.