Rights commission proposal rejected

Rights commission proposal rejected

PONTIANAK, West Kalimantan: The local office of the National
Commission on Human Rights has rejected a proposal for a special
institution handling refugees in the province.

Rousdy Said, deputy chairman of the local commission, said on
Monday that a new institution would only further complicate the
bureaucratic procedures in managing refugees.

Pontianak now accommodates thousands of Madurese people
displaced after the 1999 bloody ethnic clashes in Sambas pitted
Madurese migrants against native Malays.

The special commission in charge of refugees was proposed by
Asmara Nababan, secretary-general of the Jakarta-based National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas-HAM).

Nababan argued last week that the commission was necessary
because the government was inefficient in helping refugees living
in camps across the country.

Over a million people have been displaced by communal
violence, most notably in Aceh, Central Sulawesi, Maluku, North
Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara.

Rousdy said that what West Kalimantan should do is improve the
performance of the existing institution, Antara reported. He
added that he had the impression that Nababan's proposal was
meant to allow the numerous non-governmental organizations to
intervene in refugees' affairs.