Security in Aceh conducive

Security in Aceh conducive

JAKARTA: Chief of Military Operations in Aceh Brig. Gen. M. Djali Yusuf said in Lhokseumawe, Aceh, on Thursday that security in Aceh had increasingly become conducive, particularly after the imposition of Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No.4/2001 on the restoration of law and order in April last year.

Djali said that the application of the presidential instruction had substantially curtailed violent incidents in the province, where the special autonomy law was put into effect on Tuesday.

"Before the issuance of the presidential instruction, the number of violent incidents had been proliferating since 1998," Djali said as quoted by Antara.

Inpres No. 4/2001, which was issued on April 11, 2001, was aimed at coordinating the government's approach to restore law and order in Aceh.

Djali made the remarks in response to demands, raised by Suraiya Kamaruzzaman, the head of the non-governmental organization Flower Aceh, for the revocation of the instruction for fear that it merely served as a legal basis for the military presence in Aceh.

"It's a pity to ask for the revocation of the Inpres because violence was rampant long before the issuance of the instruction," he said.

Djali admitted that security in Aceh had not returned as expected because of the many cases of violence ranging from extortion, kidnapping to murder.

"The security condition, however, is much better than before the establishment of the military operation command in Aceh, in line with the issuance of the Inpres," he reiterated.

He said the improvement of security could be seen by the revival of local activities, such as trade, transportation and administration. -- Antara

;ANTARA; ANPAa..r.. Scene-Aceh-transigrants Transmigrants from Aceh JP/8/SCENE

Transmigrants from Aceh

JAKARTA: At least 83 migrant refugee families from Aceh, having fled the violence and instability of their troubled province, have staged a protest at the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration demanding a return to their home towns.

The displaced people claimed that they had been temporarily accommodated without any clear hope for a future. They did not say where they have been living.

Thirty of the 83 families were received by Director General of People Mobility Harry Harryawan, with demands that they be resettled in Banten.

Harry promised that officials on his end will negotiate with the Banten administration to accept the migrants over issues ranging from physical relocation to acceptance on the part of local people.

"We don't want to see that their relocation constitutes as moving a problem from one area to the other," he said.

Harry added that the transmigrants intending to resettle in their hometowns will have to submit data on their towns of origin and their transmigration locations in Aceh.

The central government will negotiate with the regional administrations from which they came from, he added. -- Antara