ICRC to help Aceh victims

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) plans to send relief aid to Aceh in the near future for the families of victims of atrocities occurring over a decade of military operations in the province, a spokesman has said.

The aid would consist of basic foodstuffs, agricultural equipment, sewing machines and books, said Soesanto, the secretary-general of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), on Thursday.

Soesanto was quoted by Antara as saying after accompanying ICRI representatives to meet PMI's Aceh chapter here that the plan was proof that the ICRC cared deeply for the fate of the suffering Acehnese families.

The closed-door meeting was attended by ICRC head for Southeast Asia Tony Pfanner, Red Cross Federation and Red Crescent Jakarta representative Herman and Aceh Vice Governor Zainuddin AG, who is also the head of PMI's Aceh branch.

The ICRC aid, Soesanto said, would be distributed to the families of victims of the military operations in the districts of East Aceh, North Aceh and Pidie.

Aid will also be given to Acehnese workers who had been deported from Malaysia last August for illegally working in the country.

Soesanto said the ICRC would distribute the aid through its own channels and through local PMI volunteers in the North Aceh town of Lhokseumawe.

Vice Governor Zainuddin AG said he welcomed ICRC's commitment to provide humanitarian aid because it would help alleviate the suffering of the victims' families made worse by the economic crisis.

The military operations carried out from 1989 to August 1998 are believed to have caused 20,000 children to lose their fathers and to widow 3,000 housewives.