Govt to relocate 1.3m refugees

JAKARTA: The government has allocated Rp 1 trillion (US$95 million) to relocate some 1.3 million displaced people from refugee camps to their homelands or new areas to start a new life next year, Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah said on Friday.

The 1.3 million refugees were spread over 19 provinces, including North Sumatra, East Java, East Nusa Tenggara, and Central and South Sulawesi, the minister explained.

He said tens of thousands of Madurese refugees from Sampit, Central Kalimantan, currently housed in squalid refugee camps on Madura island, East Java, would be sent back to their homes in Sampit.

Thousands of North Maluku and Maluku refugees currently located in North Sulawesi would also be sent back to their homes.

In addition, 5,000 families from refugee camps near Medan, North Sumatra, would be relocated to Riau to work on palm oil plantations.

Some 20,000 other displaced families from Poso, Central Sulawesi, would be transferred to the provincial capital of Palu.

Finally, some 100,000 East Timorese refugees currently residing in refugee camps in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara, would be gradually repatriated to East Timor.

The resettlement of refugees is expected to be completed by the end of 2002, resulting in a reduced burden on the state budget the following year.

The government daily provides almost Rp 2 billion and 520 tons of rice for the 1.3 million refugees, with each refugee receiving Rp 1,500 and 400 grams of rice per day. --JP