JP/4/IOM

JP/4/IOM

Don't kick out foreigners: Tsunami victims

Tiarma Siboro
and Nani Afrida
The Jakarta Post/Banda Aceh

Survivors of last December's tsunami asked the Aceh authorities
on Friday to review their new policy of restricting the number of
foreigners who have been helping them after the devastating
catastrophe.

On Thursday, the National Police's Aceh Task Force announced
that foreigners working for some organizations under the United
Nations, non-governmental organizations and the media would be
required to leave Aceh by March 26 because their presence would
be "no longer relevant to the current situation" here.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are among the UN
agencies on the "please leave" list.

However, the victims of the disaster said the government
should allow these organizations to stay longer in Aceh as they
had provided them with proper housing areas and job
opportunities.

Syamsuddin, 50, a villager from Lampuuk in Lhok Nga, Aceh
Besar, said he was happy working for IOM and hoped he could live
at one of the houses it is building.

"I lost most of my family members and have to live here as a
refugee. Thank God that IOM came with their project, so I can
work as a construction worker," said Syamsuddin, who is now
sheltering in Tinkeum Lampuenerut in Banda Aceh.

He said he is paid Rp 50,000 a day by the organization.

"I prefer to stay at this house, instead of living at the
barracks (set up by the government). I hope the government will
allow IOM to stay here. There is no clean water nor sanitation at
the barracks," he told The Jakarta Post.

IOM spokesman Paul Dillon said his organization had started
building houses complexes for internally displaced persons (IDP)
in several areas in Banda Aceh.

Under the project agreed by the government late in January,
IOM planned to construct some 11,000 earthquake-resistant houses
for around 60,000 tsunami victims, he said.

"At that time, Mr. Alwi Shihab, who was responsible for the
Aceh Disaster Mitigation Board, asked us to build houses for the
people. We agreed with the proposal," Dillon said. Alwi is also
the Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare.

"As the projects are going on, I wish we can stay here to
finish the job," Dillon added

Two IOM projects are located in the Lagang and Tinkeum
villages, all in Banda Aceh, and largely involve local people as
construction workers.

A 36 square meter temporary house designed by IOM can be built
within two days and is easily taken down.

Refugees could stay in the houses, pending the government-
sponsored relocation and resettlement programs expected to start
this year.

State data shows about 400,000 Acehnese people lost their
homes to the tsunami.

Another disaster victim, Umar Dhani, 34, said he and other
Acehnese residents would be willing to join the relocation
program, only if they were moved to places providing minimum
requirements for public housing.

Earlier, Brig. Gen. T. Ashikin, the police's Aceh task force
chief, said the IOM and UNHCR had no competency to continue
working in Aceh. There were "no refugees" nor "migrants" in the
area, but rather internally displaced people (IDPs) -- a problem
that the government should deal with, not foreigners, Ashikin
said.