Heading off crisis

Heading off crisis

As the rupiah jumped up and down yesterday (Friday) amid
predictions of a currency board in place by midyear, the human
cost of the financial crisis in Indonesia became ever more plain.
Police action may have dampened down the food riots of recent
weeks, but prices of staple commodities are soaring, with the
effects of drought worsening the situation in some provinces.

The rescue package negotiated between Indonesia and the
International Monetary Fund needs to be implemented, and the fund
is right to be wary of deviations from it. But, at the same time,
the international community has to be aware that the combination
of natural factors in the form of drought and financial ones in
the shape of food price inflation may mean that Indonesia needs
some form of humanitarian help.

The regional dimension of Indonesia's plight has become clear
in recent days in Malaysia. Police there describe illegal
immigrants from Indonesia as a security threat, and report that
some have sought arrest simply in order to get something to eat.
Some 4,000 people have been detained landing illegally by boat in
Peninsular Malaysia. Thousands more undoubtedly have crossed
undetected.

The last thing the region needs is a massive movement of
economic refugees from the world's fourth-most populous nation.
That could make the Vietnamese boat people look like a small-
scale affair, and Hong Kong knows all too well the consequences
of a wave of unwanted refugees landing on one's territory.

If the wave of people quitting Indonesia continues to grow,
this must be a problem which ASEAN addresses as a matter of
urgency. The association's traditional refusal to be seen to
intervene in the affairs of any member states may have to be set
aside -- indeed, Indonesia should welcome such a departure from
past practice. International organizations should be ready to
lend their help. As is often the case, identifying a humanitarian
problem early on and dealing with it is the best way of
preventing it turning into a major crisis.

-- South China Morning Post