Refugees in Ambon face uncertain future

Refugees in Ambon face uncertain future

By Budiman Moerdijat

AMBON, Maluku (JP): Peals of laughter which came from the
direction of children playing tag in the Suli refugee center,
some 35 kilometers north of Ambon, reflected an oblivion of
sadness their parents felt over their losses from months of
communal clashes ravaging the province since mid-January.

"I have many friends here and I can play all day with them,"
Lori, an eight-year old refugee, told The Jakarta Post during a
recent visit to the refugee center organized by the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Lori said his family fled there after their house in the
Christian Benteng Karang village, some 40 kilometers north of
here, was set on fire on Jan. 20.

The grownups in the center, however, were in a far different
mood, wondering aloud why such violent clashes between Muslims
and Christians, which had killed at least 300 people, could erupt
in a place once dubbed by President B.J. Habibie as a model of
inter-religious harmony.

"We have been living side by side with our Muslim neighbors in
Hitu village for years, so we keep asking why all this happened,"
Petronella Naisere, 43, said.

The authorities both in Jakarta and in the province spoke of
"instigators" involved in the violence, but no hard evidence has
surfaced to support the argument.

"There have been problems of social injustices in Ambon, so
trivial disputes between residents could quickly degenerate into
full-scale riots," Ambon Bishop Mandagi said without elaborating.

The violence has forced tens of thousands of people to seek
shelters in military installations, mosques, churches and
government offices while tens of thousands, mostly the migrant
Muslims, fled to their hometowns in South and Southeast Sulawesi.

In Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, for instance, as many as 42,000
refugees are now sheltered in various makeshift centers, giving
rise to various social problems that would need to be addressed
soon. Twenty-five refugees have recently died of cholera, while
hundreds of others were hospitalized for various diseases that
spread because of squalid living conditions.

"I will never return to Benteng Karang, I have nothing left
and we fear that we will be attacked by the Hitu people if we
return to the village," Petronella, a mother of four said. Her
house was also set on fire in the January attack.

Petronella realized, however, that she couldn't stay in the
refuge center forever and wanted to move to another island.

"We still do not know exactly where to go from here. I leave
it to the government to decide on that," Petronella said.

Herman Joltuwu, 40, whose house in Benteng Karang was also set
on fire in the clashes, said the government planned to move the
refugees to North Buru and North Seram islands. The offer was
rejected as both areas were too far.

"Our children's schools are in or around Ambon and we still
also have to market our crop there. So, we prefer Waipia or
Waroka in South Seram as these areas are nearer and it would be
easier for us to find transportation to Ambon, " Herman, a father
of three, said.

Herman added that most of Benteng Karang villagers who fled to
Suli also refused to be moved to Buru island for the same
reasons.

The government's offer, however, was accepted by at least 315
Butonese people who were taking refuge at Air Salobar camp.

"We will leave for Buru island in early May. I have decided to
leave because I have nothing left here," said Ufiah, 27, while
holding her sleeping baby.

She said her house in Nusaniwe was set on fire by a Christian
attack in February.

Lahusa, a former neighborhood chief in Nusaniwe, said the
government planned to provide a two-hectare plot with a 36-square
meter house on it for each family on Buru island.

"We are entitled to get Rp 5.5 million in the form of
construction materials from the government to rebuild our houses,
but even without the stuff destroyed inside, our homes were worth
a lot more than that," Lahusa said.

"So, we have to take the offer, and try to start a new life on
Buru island" he added.

An ICRC representative, Alexandre Faite, said nearly 16,000
people were still taking shelter in 45 camps in and around Ambon
as of April 24.

"The ICRC-supported relief operations in those camps started
March 19 and are scheduled to last until June," said Alex, who
was dispatched from the troubled North Aceh capital of
Lhokseumawe, where he was based to monitor the operations.

The operations were carried out by a special task force from
the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) headquarters, the local Red Cross
and at least 30 local volunteers, Alex said.

He said ICRC secured Rp 2 billion from donor countries to
finance the operations in those 45 camps.

"We have been distributing small packages of sugar, mung
beans, salt, rice and cooking oil to each refugee every two
weeks," Alvis, a distribution staff member, said.

He added that high-protein biscuits were handed out to
children under five, pregnant mothers and the elderly people.

Alex said, however, ICRC has yet to decide whether it would
also lend its hand to thousands of other refugees in the
Southeast Maluku capital of Tual, some 500 kilometers from here.

At least 130 people were killed in other violent clashes
between Muslims and Christians in Tual and other nearby islands
since they first erupted on March 31.

"Nobody wins in this madness," Yusuf Elly, a local Muslim
community leader said, adding that "the hardest job now is
putting the pieces back together".