Government vows to be tougher in restive areas
Government vows to be tougher in restive areas
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian government would no longer compromise with
separatist movements, Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono vowed Thursday.
The government has already deployed 51 battalions or around
50,000 soldiers to the large number of conflict areas throughout
the country.
"From the various peace agreements and dialogs that we have
conducted, we see that the separatist groups are not willing to
abide by them, so we have no choice but to stop them," Susilo
said.
He declared that separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya,
in particular, would be stopped once and for all.
"We will not make any compromises in maintaining the national
interest, especially against those that continue to use
violence," Susilo.
On Irian Jaya the retired four-star general said that security
forces had been preparing for the province's self-proclaimed
Independence Day on Dec. 1.
"We have paid attention to that event and our officers in the
province have made preparations to anticipate that day," he said.
Speaking after a Cabinet meeting, presided over by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri, Susilo said that the government had thus
far failed to see any intention on the part of the separatist
groups to end the conflicts through dialog.
The government had always been open to discussions aimed at
ending the differences, Susilo said.
The government would continue to increase the activities of
the battalions in the conflict areas to help maintain the
territorial stability of Indonesia, he said.
"The deployment of the 51 battalions of the Indonesian
Military and National Police is aimed at curbing the prolonged
unrests. They are stationed in restive provinces, including Aceh,
Irian Jaya, Maluku, North Maluku, Kalimantan and Attambua,"
Susilo said.
The minister said the government was gearing up for the
increasing possibility of unrest in various parts of Indonesia in
the coming months.
The country has been busy dealing with a series of conflicts,
ranging from separatist movements in Aceh and Irian Jaya to
sectarian conflicts in Maluku, Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi
over the last two years.
Thousands of innocent people have been killed in the
conflicts, despite the presence of security forces.
Over the past two days alone Muslims and Christian violence
has flared in the Central Sulawesi capital of Poso, with the
deaths of seven people at the hands of unidentified armed men.
"From our intelligence reports, the government sees the need
to increase its security activities and take more stern action in
Poso," Susilo said.
"We will not let Poso become another major conflict area. We
believe that there are outsiders who are attempting to provoke
the situation. We will not let that continue," the minister said.