Nunukan refugee aid fails to arrive, situation worsens

The Jakarta Post, Nunukan, East Kalimantan/Jakarta

The situation of thousands of refugees on the border island of Nunukan, East Kalimantan, is worsening day by day as one relief worker revealed on Monday that a few were selling their babies to raise cash to return to Malaysia.

With 50,000 more expelled workers expected to crowd the tiny island, relief organizations have said the government failed to deliver its promised aid, be it medical equipment or food, to them on time.

Relief worker Palupi from the Humanitarian Volunteers' Network said that mothers were selling their babies from Rp 300,000 (US$34) to Rp 1 million.

"I've had three cases this week," Palupi told Reuters from Nunukan. "They need the money to be able to go back to Malaysia."

Meanwhile, both the local and central governments have lost track of most of the aid needed to save the lives of these unfortunate workers.

The Ministry of Health, for instance, promised to send 16 packages of medicine, but only a few managed to reach the border island.

From the 10 doctors and 15 medical staff members promised to be sent to the island, only a few arrived, while the rest were delayed in Tarakan, East Kalimantan.

"A number of doctors who managed to come here just look at some of the patients here, and do not even give medication. After that, they said they would go to the emergency health posts and then I never hear from them again," said a nurse at a local health center.

Health is not the only issue, a local Catholic priest said in an interview aired by Ramako private radio station on Monday. He said that he did not see a sufficient distribution of food for the expelled workers.

The government had allocated some 120 tons of rice and Rp 350 million (US$39,325) to be distributed among workers.

Nunukan has become the center of public attention in the past month, because the island has become a temporary shelter for these expelled workers in the wake of the implementation of a harsh immigration act in Malaysia, which took effect on July 31.

The shabby camps built around the tiny island have become the home to no less than 40,000 workers, waiting to be either sent back to Malaysia or to return to their hometowns.

A lack of clean sanitation, food and medical facilities has seriously jeopardized the health of the refugees, and a total of 67 people have died since May.

Since July 29, 32 people have died but officials have put the death toll at 28.

In his report to Vice President Hamzah Haz, East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF played down the worsening conditions, saying that most of the aid arrived on time and the situation in Nunukan was fully under control.

"We anticipated the influx of these workers and we have learned that there are some 50,000 more to come," Suwarna said after meeting the Vice President at his office.

He also said that 13,422 people staying in Nunukan, 24,875 people had returned to their hometowns, and 17,280 people had been sent back to Malaysia with proper documents.

"This is not a desperate situation, because you have to remember that these workers have money and they are not suffering as badly as has been reported," he said.

The governor further claimed that he had secured a promise from Sabah authorities that they would not punish Indonesian illegal workers as Jakarta was doing whatever it could to bring its citizens back home.

Hamzah is scheduled to leave for Nunukan on Wednesday to see the living conditions of the workers, while President Megawati Soekarnoputri is on her 15-day tour of Africa and Europe.

The governor said he expected the central government to add to the amount of aid to anticipate the next influx of workers from Malaysia.