Living without hope

Scattered across Sampang, on the island of Madura, over 88,000 refugees live in abhorrent conditions with children continuously gnawing on tiny fish bones as there is no meat or vegetables to eat, while jobless adults wait for death to fetch them.

The only work available in Sampang for these refugees is as fishermen. For a full day's work, a fisherman is paid between Rp 1,000 (US 11 cents) and Rp 2,000 each day.

These refugees are among those who were rescued and evacuated when thousands were killed two years ago in clashes with the Dayak ethnic group in Central Kalimantan.

Despite their appeals, the local administration refuses to repatriate the refugees to their homes in Sampit, Central Kalimantan.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the foreign aid, received by the refugee coordinator here, is used for the benefit of a few corrupt administration officials while we are left here to die. We have become objects of trade," a grandmother at a refugee camp in Sampang said recently.

"When we are no longer concerned about being killed by the Dayak today, what other reason does the administration have for not allowing us to return to Sampit?"

(Text by Yogita Tahilramani and Edith Hartanto)