Refugees worry about what they left behind

Refugees worry about what they left behind

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Lhokseumawe, Aceh

The staccato sound of gunfire startled Yusniar as she prepared breakfast in her home. A few minutes after the skirmish ceased, the pregnant woman and her husband were startled again, this time by a knock on the door.

They learned it was Police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) personnel at the door.

The troops told Yusniar and her husband to abandon their village, explaining that the security situation there had worsened, evident from the recurrent armed clashes over the previous days.

Yusniar and her family live in Laweng village, Muara Tiga district, in Pidie regency. Pidie is known as one of the strongholds of Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels.

"The police told us they just had been involved in an exchange of fire with GAM. I was scared when they urged us to move to a refugee camp because they asserted that they could not guarantee our safety if we did not leave our home," said Yusniar.

Yusniar, her husband and their neighbors were then taken to the Keunire refugee camp, some two kilometers from downtown Pidie, leaving their home and all their belongings unattended.

The refugees are sheltering in several huge nylon tents, each 10 meters in width and 30 meters in length, that can accommodate dozens of families. It is sweltering inside during daylight hours.

Unlike other refugees in Aceh, the displaced people living in Keunire camp do not sleep on plaited mats, but they rest on planks of wood without any bedding.

The refugee camp, which was built on an open field, is home to over 5,000 people from 1,760 families, mostly from Muara Tiga district.

The government has also built toilets and prayer sites and provided medical assistance. Medical workers, including doctors, are on hand in the camp.

Clean water for cooking is provided by local government tap water company PDAM, while for bathing, the refugees must go to nearby rivers or houses surrounding the camp.

Finding a place to bathe presents one of the biggest problems for the refugees. They cannot use the PDAM water, because of the limited supply. Many of the refugees complain of skin ailments.

"We bathe using water from the irrigation canal," said Yusrif, a refugee from Juli district in Bireuen regency, who is now living in Cot Gapu I refugee camp.

It takes up to two hours drive to reach Bireuen from Pidie. Most refugees in Aceh come from Bireuen, which is also a GAM stronghold.

Cooking is another headache for the refugees. There are two to three stoves provided by the government in each tent, but they are not enough to fulfill their needs. Some refugees have bought their own portable stoves.

Rice is plentiful, but they must eat similar side dishes every day, mainly salted fish. Sometimes, they eat instant noodles.

Once they enter the camp, it is not easy for refugees to leave. Their camps are surrounded by barbed wire, not to mention a security check for those who want to leave the camps.

Many of the refugees said they were bored and stressed after about two weeks living in camps. They said they wanted to return home immediately, but were not permitted to do so by the security authority.

Some military officers have said the removal of people to refugee camps is part of the military strategy to separate people from GAM and to cut logistics supply channels for the rebels.

The strategy applies in Juli district in Bireuen, whose residents are sheltering in Cot Gapu I and II camps. The district is considered a strategic GAM base, as it is located between two hills. GAM members, who are currently occupying the hills and jungles, can get food from residents and then quickly run back to their hide-out in the hills.

The military may succeed in minimizing civilian fatalities by asking people to stay in refugee camps, but on the other hand it has brought losses to them.

A number of farmers said they had run out of money as they could no longer cultivate their land, from which they made a living.

One of the farmers in Juli, Yusrif, said he did not know what had happened to his cattle and land he left when he moved to the refugee camp.

On Thursday, The Jakarta Post and other journalists traveled to Juli district, where gunfights between GAM and TNI have become commonplace. Along the road, Brimob troops were seen occupying some houses, and had made them their bases.

Houses were empty and streets deserted. But in some areas, chicken, ducks and cows roamed along the road. Indeed, it is a habit of most Acehnese to allow their cattle to wander freely.

Some refugees in both Cot Gapu I and II camps, situated less than five kilometers from their villages, said they heard their cattle were missing. But some others confirmed that their belongings remained intact, after they made brief visits to their homes.

Security authorities have given them a chance to return to their homes to take their belongings that could cushion their life in refugee camps, such as clothes.

They went home in turns under tight guard of Brimob troops.

Despite the safety in the camps, the refugees said they preferred living in their homes. "I miss my home sweet home," said Halimah, a refugee from Juli district.

"I feel itchy and hot," added Halimah, a 70-year-old woman, when asked why she wished to return home.

But she is resigned to the situation.

"We have got used to it. Whether we are killed or stay alive all depends on Almighty God," she said.