Megawati yet to keep word she gave to Buton refugees

By Jupriadi

BUTON, Southeast Sulawesi (JP): Muslim refugees from riot-torn Maluku waved to journalists and shouted: "Please tell Ibu Mega we are still waiting for the blankets she promised us!"

"Please remind her of her promises when she campaigned here," said one among the thousands now living in squalid conditions in makeshift refugee centers, referring to Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan).

Blankets are important if one has to sleep on the floor of a school or one of the various other buildings used to accommodate the more than 52,000 refugees. Food is too, especially after months of each family being rationed five kilograms of rice every 10 days.

Of no less importance are the refugees' hopes for the future, a rare commodity in a situation where both public and government attention is declining and one feels utterly helpless.

"I have lost my husband. He was murdered before his children's eyes," said Satiawali, 40, haltingly and wiping away tears.

"Now I cannot afford to send our six children to school. We live from day to day only to survive. We have nothing else left."

Before the outbreak of religious clashes between Muslims and Christians on Jan. 19, Satiawali and her family used to lead a relatively good life in Batu Gajah, Ambon. Her husband, Djafar, was an electrician at state-owned electricity company PLN in the Maluku capital of Ambon and could send their six children, aged respectively 17, 16, 15, 13, 11 and six years, to good schools.

"I was a vendor in the market," she reminisced.

Then, suddenly in a frenzy of killing by both sides, Djafar was killed in front of his six children.

"My husband was beheaded," Satiawali said.

Satiawali and her six children were among the exodus of thousands of people. She said she did not remember exactly when they fled Maluku and arrived in Buton.

Now they are staying in Barrack I of a Muslim orphanage in Bone, Batuamsari subdistrict, Buton. "I am fortunate because I still have my children. They comfort me in times of sorrow," she told The Jakarta Post at the temporary living quarters.

As they get only a limited food ration, Satiawali now sells porridge to cover their expenses. "I can earn enough to buy rice and one liter of kerosene," she said.

Now in Buton, some 220 kilometers to the west of Kendari, the capital of Southeast Sulawesi province, there is no shortage of sad stories about the refugees.

Dependent

They live in neglect in accommodation sites spread all over Buton island. Yusran, 23, a student activist from Hasanuddin University, Ujungpandang, who is an indigenous of Buton, said these refugees were facing a new, tougher ordeal.

"This is a condition of life that will turn them from being independent into being dependent," he told the Post.

He said many of these people have been overcome by frustration, either because of their traumatic experiences back home or due to the monotonous life in the refugee centers.

The head of the social services ministry in Buton district, A. Malik, said since the arrival of these refugees in Buton on Jan. 26, their number had increased to 52,123 people.

"This is the official number. There are many more who are not included in the official report," he said.

Malik said the 52,000 refugees were made up of 11,321 families staying in almost all of Buton's 21 subdistricts such as Binongko, Tomia, Kaledupa, Wangi-Wangi, Lasalimu and Pasaw-ajo.

They are also sheltered in Sampolawa, Batauga, Wolio, Sorowalio, Bungi, Kapontori, Gu, Lakudo, Mawasangka, Kabaena Timur, Rumbia and Kabaena. The biggest number of refugees can be found in Batauga subdistrict (5,967 people) and Gu subdistrict (5,949 people).

Refugees considered most vulnerable to illness are those staying in centers in Betoambari subdistrict, particularly in Bone village. Although all the refugees are susceptible to diarrhea and tropical malaria owing to sanitation and nutrition problems, immediate attention is needed in Bone where refugees lack the will to fight for a better life.

The Post monitored three accommodation sites in three subdistricts, namely at the Joint Activity Center (SKB), the Islamic Higher-Learning Institute (STIA) and at a Muslim orphanage.

In one site, Husen and his wife, Ani, for example, said they often do not have enough rice to eat. This couple, hailing from Batu Gantung Ganemo, Ambon, complained that the ration of five kilos of rice every 10 days for one family was far from enough.

"Sometimes we go without eating. What is most important to us is that our two children have enough to eat," said Husen, who has been at the SKB accommodation site for three months.

He said more and more children had been hit by malaria and cholera.

"Perhaps they are not used to sleeping on a mat on the floor," he said. At SKB accommodation site he and 100 other families must sleep and eat together in the 160-square meter building.

"We are indeed packed in here, people and goods and boxes," he said.

At the STIA accommodation site, which is quite large, the head of Barrack II, La Rony, 28, said aid from social services and the local administration was far from enough for the 386 refugees.

"Some time ago, when an official came, donations were forthcoming. Now we have 1.5 kg of rice per person every 10 days. We must ask for this help, otherwise we would get nothing," he said.

He added refugees here were in urgent need of food and blankets, especially now that the rainy season was approaching. Hence the call on Megawati, who recently campaigned among the refugees.

The site has about 120 children, who are also prone to disease. "Children are most easily hit by malarial fever," said Ati, 20, a mother of one, who she gave birth to at this accommodation site.

At a accommodation site at a Muslim orphanage, there are about 70 children aged between two and 14 among 126 refugees. These children obviously cannot continue their schooling.

Here, Muhammad Taher and his wife revealed that some of their fellow refugees often ate porridge to ensure that their stock of rice lasted longer. Each refugee gets a ration of two kilos every 10 days, plus a packet of instant noodles. "Here sometimes we eat, and sometime we don't," he said.

Two babies have been born at this particular place, one to La Madi and Ati and the other to Amir and Hadijah.

The lack of food and other basic needs is a main topic here.

Syamsul, 32, of Kairatu in Ambon, questioned why large donations were not given directly to refugees, and suspected aid had not been properly distributed.

A. Malik denied the allegation.

"That's nonsense. The rations are limited because the donations we have received are not big," he said, showing the data of donations and to whom aid has been distributed.

He admitted the social services office found it difficult to subsidize donations in the form of daily needs and medicines to refugees every day. Therefore his office and the local administration office are drawing up a plan for local resettlement for the refugees.

"This plan will be an alternative choice for those who do not want to return to Ambon," he said.

Nevertheless, he voiced hope of aid from foreign donors. Malik also expressed fear that the refugees would no longer be able to live independently because they had become accustomed to receiving aid.

"So we are indeed in a tight spot now," he said.

Whatever the reason, thousands of refugees urgently need daily necessities and medicines, and decent dwelling places for their children. Their cries, like Satiawali's, are: Give us daily needs. Give us blankets and give us a home to live in.

"Our children have for quite a long time lived on mats on the floor. They dream of going back to school," Satiawali said.

But, "I don't want to go to school any more," said Ismi, 13, Satiawali's fourth child. "I just don't."