Repatriation of boat people to be delayed

Repatriation of boat people to be delayed

JAKARTA (JP): The development of Galang Island as part of the
Barelang (Batam, Rempang and Galang islands) bonded zone area is
likely to encounter a further set back due to the delayed
repatriation of several thousand boat people originally slated
for mid-1995.

"We would like to complete it as soon as possible, but it will
be impossible to do it by the end of this year," Minister of
Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said yesterday.

Responding to questions during a hearing with the House of
Representatives (DPR) Commission I on foreign affairs, Alatas
said there were some 7,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian boat people
still living on the island.

The foreign ministry's director general for social, cultural
and foreign relations, Djauhari Nata Atmaja, who accompanied
Alatas at yesterday's hearing, also indicated that the
repatriations will not be completed by mid-1995.

"We expect it to be completed by the end of 1995," Djauhari
said in response to questions from The Jakarta Post after the
hearing.

Based on a deal with Hanoi in October 1993, officials here had
set August 1995 as the deadline to completely vacate the island.

Vietnamese President Le Duc Anh, during his visit here last
April, agreed to facilitate the expedition of the Vietnamese boat
people and guaranteed protection from persecution upon their
return.

Nearly all of those on Galang are of Vietnamese origin with
Cambodians numbering in the hundreds.

A mass hunger strike by 500 boat people on Galang island was
launched to coincide with Le Duc Anh's visit. Over 70 people were
hospitalized and at least one committed suicide in the week-long
protest.

Most of the boat people on Galang will have to return to their
place of origin since they fall into a "non-political refugees"
category.

Alatas estimates about 100 political refugees are still on
Galang awaiting departure to a third country destination such as
Canada, the United States, and Australia.

In the last 15 years, Galang has been home to nearly 250,000
boat people.

According to Alatas the wave of protests in April and the
continued refusal to be repatriated back to Vietnam is being
perpetrated by a number of instigators.

He said the Indonesian government has been extremely lenient
in handling the protests and will remain as such unless it is
forced to take firmer action.

"We have had to remove some of those people whom we considered
the instigators," Alatas explained.

Some 200 of them have been identified and the government has
taken steps to remove and separate them from the others on
Galang.

"They have been taken to Tanjung Pinang," Djauhari said
referring to the main city of Bintan island located just north of
Galang.

The actions taken to separate the "instigators" were
criticized and protested by former Vietnamese boat people
currently living in the United States.

Alatas however defended Indonesia's treatment of the boat
people as being very humane, proven by the praise given by United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Despite this fact, Alatas exclaimed: "No doubt Amnesty
International will also soon butt-in!"

Timor

Apart from the issue of Galang, Alatas was also questioned
about the East Timor issue in relation to the moves Indonesia
will make as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council

The foreign minister professed that the two had no connection.

"Indonesia's membership is not meant as a way to solve the
East Timor issue," he asserted. (mds)