Nunukan refugee aid fails to arrive, situation worsens

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.