NGO tells government to pay greater attention to refugees' plight

JAKARTA (JP): Activists called on the government on Monday to pay greater attention to the plight of refugees in the country, saying that their neglect could be a source of further violence.

During a media briefing here, the Civil Society Coalition on Public Policy warned that these internally displaced people could be easily incited to foment unrest due to continuous neglect.

The recent incident in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara, was described as an example of this.

"Displaced people (in Atambua) are very easily manipulated either by pro-autonomy militia or other foreign and local intelligence operations," Fakhrulsyah Mega, coordinator of the Civil Society Independent Network for Transparency and Accountability in Development (Jari Indonesia), said.

Besides Jari Indonesia, the coalition is joined by Debtwatch, which monitor the disbursement and use of foreign loans, Investi- PBHI, an investigation unit of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), YLKI and Jakarta News FM.

Fakhrulsyah further pointed out that the long-term presence of these refugees was also creating friction with local residents fostering greater potential for clashes.

"By the end of the year it could become more crucial as most of these people were rejected by locals," he added while citing cases of East Timor refugees in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), and Madura migrants from the 1998 Sambas incident who are still in camps in around Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Fakhrulsyah said the Rp 800 billion saved by the government from cutting fuel subsidies should go toward rehabilitating the lives of the refugees.

The coalition also demanded that the House of Representatives also placed the plight of refugees as a priority to be resolved by the end of the year.

Fakhrulsyah warned that lingering refugee issues could also be used by foreign countries to press demands on the Indonesian government, such as the case with East Timor refugees in West Timor.

Signs of a backlash against refugees fleeing riot areas are already evident. In July, authorities in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, impounded a ferry carrying some 1,000 refugees fleeing unrest in the Maluku islands.

The decision was taken due to fear that the arrival of the refugees might instigate a spread of the communal conflict to Irian Jaya.

However the refugees were finally allowed to disembark several days later following intervention from local and religious figures.

Data from the Ministry of Health and the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) estimates that there are about one million internally displaced people across the country driven from their homes by sectarian conflicts, separatist struggles and natural disasters.

There are about 130,000 refugees in East Nusa Tenggara while the remaining large concentration of refugees are scattered through Buton in Southeast Sulawesi, Poso in South Sulawesi, Maluku Islands and Aceh. (edt)