Refugees in Aceh 'face starvation'

Refugees in Aceh 'face starvation'

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): Some 38,000 refugees in the regencies
of South Aceh and East Aceh are facing starvation due to slow
distribution of food supplies, an official and activist said on
Thursday.

"We were informed that the government -- through the local
social welfare office -- has distributed 25 tons of rice to the
refugees in South Aceh. But so far, only two tons have been
distributed here," chairman of the Karya Bersama Foundation
(Yasma) T.M. Yacoub said, as quoted by Antara.

Approximately 22,000 local residents have sought shelter in
South Aceh since July 19. They came three neighboring
subdistricts of Trumon, Bakongan and Manggeng, he said.

"If a person is allotted four ounces of rice a day, some 8.8
tons would be needed each day for these 22,000 refugees, while
the amount of rice which has been distributed is only two tons
per day," he explained.

Most of the some 14,000 refugees have come from Trumon
subdistrict.

"We demand that the provincial administration speed up the
distribution of the food," Yacoub said.

Meanwhile, in East Aceh, five heads of villages from Idi and
Nurussalam districts representing some 16,000 refugees here met
with East Aceh regent Azman Usmanuddin on Thursday, demanding
that security troops be pulled out from their villages.

"We want to come home but we are afraid of more violence. If
they (the troops) are still roaming the areas, incidents might
happen any moment," one of the village chiefs said.

The refugees had been hit by illness such as severe
respiratory problems, diarrhea and dehydration, East Aceh
regional secretary Irawan Yunus said.

"The illnesses have especially hit the children here. Security
authorities, however, thought that these refugees were victims of
propaganda from provocateurs who spread terror in their
villages," Irawan added.

Elsewhere in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra, the United
States Embassy reportedly checked data and information on the
missing activist of the New York-based International Forum for
Aceh (IFA), Jafar Siddiq Hamzah, the news agency reported.

"The U.S. consulate is closely monitoring this case," said
Medan's Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) director, Irham Buana
Nasution.

Jafar was last seen in Medan on Saturday and is feared to have
been abducted due to his activities in defending human rights in
Aceh. (50/edt)