Task force and aid ready for Acehnese refugees before war

Task force and aid ready for Acehnese refugees before war

Moch. N. Kurniawan and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta

The government has established a task force to help internally
displaced persons (IDP) in Aceh, if war between government troops
and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) breaks out.

The government has given the Acehnese rebels, who have been
fighting for an independent Aceh since 1976, until May 12 to
accept the special autonomy arrangement and disarm, if they want
to salvage the peace agreement signed in December 2002.

Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsyah said on Friday
that the government expected between 100,000 and 200,000 Acehnese
would be displaced in the case of a war, and had decided to
allocate some Rp 400 billion (US$48 million) annually in aid.

He also said that his ministry's humanitarian team for Aceh
had started making preparations to anticipate the potential wave
of Acehnese IDPs.

"We have set up a task force ... if a military operation
starts, there will be an evacuation of local residents for whom
we must build shelters and health centers, and provide food,"
Bachtiar was quoted by Antara as saying on Friday.

He added that the government task force would depart for Aceh
on Sunday to help local teams deal with the expected IDPs.

Bachtiar said he was appointed by Coordinating Minister for
People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla to lead the government team to
assist IDPs in Aceh.

Separately, Jusuf asserted that the government had allocated
Rp 400 billion per year toward IDPs in five regencies, including
Bireuen and Pidie.

If a war did not materialize in Aceh, the funds would still be
disbursed to the Acehnese in order to supply food and rebuild
schools, houses, hospitals and places of worship, he said.

So far, the government has disbursed Rp 114 billion to the
Aceh administration, of which it had used only Rp 40 billion so
far, said Jusuf.

The Aceh administration had also allocated Rp 200 billion in
funds for the people's welfare, he said.

As the May 12 deadline for the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) draws
near, violence continues in Aceh.

The Indonesian Military (TNI) plans to deploy between 40,000
and 50,000 troops to crack down on the secessionist movement. If
it comes to pass, the deployment would be the largest military
operation in the history of Indonesia.

Acehnese have started fleeing their homes and villages,
fearing the ongoing spate of violence and the imminent war.

The government said there are about 3,000 IDPs in Aceh at
present, some of whom are taking refuge in school buildings.

Bachtiar said those IDPs staying in schools must leave the
buildings to allow students to continue their studies.

Yesterday, Mar'ie Muhammad of the Indonesian Red Cross said
that they had sent an ambulance and medical supplies to help the
IDPs in Aceh.

The Red Cross had also distributed 10,000 tons of rice to
300,000 families in the resource-rich province, he said, adding
that each family would receive 10 kilograms of rice per month,
for the next four months.