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

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Scene-Aceh-transigrants
Transmigrants from Aceh
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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