Refugees told to leave state buildings by July

Refugees told to leave state buildings by July

M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku

At least 5,460 families of refugees who fled sectarian fighting
in the Maluku islands have been given until July to vacate shops
and government facilities they have been camping in since 1999.

"The refugees must leave these camps in the next two months at
the latest," Deputy Maluku Governor M. Abdullah Latuconsina said
in Ambon on Wednesday after visiting the camps.

The refugees are staying at shop houses in Batumerah, the
athlete dormitory in Karangpanjang, the Waihaong People's
Entertainment Park and several government buildings.

They were among some 36,828 families who fled the religious
fighting and are now in camps throughout the province.

Latuconsina said the July deadline was only effective for
5,469 families of refugees in downtown Ambon, who were staying in
public facilities.

He said his administration could not set a deadline for other
refugees to leave their camps because of a lack of funds to build
them houses.

The Maluku government has allocated Rp 400 billion (US$45.6
million) to send home all the refugees but the money was only
enough to build some 10,000 houses for them, Latuconsina said.

"We need more funds from the central government to build many
more houses," he said.

Refugees that still had houses were being offered Rp 10
million a family to return to their villages in order to resolve
this problem.

Some 6,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands fled
their homes when Muslims and Christians started in fighting in
January 1999.

Many refugees' homes were destroyed or burned down during the
conflict.

Most of the fighting ended in February, 2002, after leaders
from both sides signed a government-brokered peace pact, known as
the Malino II Agreement.