Maluku refugees living in Kupang face starvation

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Around 3,000 Maluku refugees in the East Nusa Tenggara provincial capital of Kupang are facing starvation following the ending of food aid from a local Protestant church.

The refugees, who had fled the prolonged sectarian conflict in Maluku, said that the local people could no longer be relied on for rice and other basic commodities due to the worsening conditions in the province resulting from the prolonged economic crisis.

"We are facing starvation because the local church's charity foundation has terminated its food aid for refugees while we can no longer depend on local people from whom we have begged rice over the last four months," Apoli Watimena, a Maluku refugee, said here on Monday.

According to The Jakarta Post's observations, Maluku refugees living in the sports stadium and boarding houses at the Artha Wacana University, and in Nunhila subdistrict in the city have been in poor condition since the food aid stopped.

The Rev. P.J. Therik, who coordinated the food aid for the refugees, confirmed that the local church stopped its food aid for the refugees four months ago as it had run out of funding sources.

"Many sides who gave donations for the refugees have halted their donations because of the worsening economic conditions, while we never received any donations from the local administration," he said.

J.B. Kosapilawan, spokesman for the provincial administration, said that the local government had no funds to help support the refugees.

"It is better for the refugees to go back to their home villages in Ambon since the situation is returning into normal, or to other provinces, or join the government's resettlement program to start a new life," he said, citing that the government was still focused on handling the East Timorese refugee problem.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant people in Maluku and North Maluku have been taking a refuge in Irian Jaya, Sulawesi, Jakarta and the province following the prolonged sectarian conflict in the two provinces. The death toll has reached more than 5,000 since the conflict exploded in January, 1999.

Despite the tense calm in the two provinces, no permanent peaceful solution has been made to end to the bloody conflict.

"It is better for the refugees to go back to their home villages in Ambon as the situation is returning to normal, or to other provinces, or to join the government's resettlement program to start a new life," he said, adding that the government was still focused on handling the East Timor refugee problem.

Hundreds of thousands of migrant people in Maluku and North Maluku have taken refuge in Irian Jaya, Sulawesi, Jakarta and the province following the prolonged sectarian conflict in the two provinces. The death toll has reached more than 5,000 since the conflict exploded in Jan. 1999.

Despite the uneasy calm in the two provinces, no permanent, peaceful solution has been made to end the bloody conflict.