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.