UN asks for access to deliver humanitarian assistance in Aceh
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A United Nations (UN) official here requested on Friday for more access to other areas of Aceh to distribute humanitarian assistance as the martial law administrator had yet to set the ground rules for the distribution of aid.
The deputy of the humanitarian coordinator and chief of the office for the UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), Michael Elmquist, said that it would be difficult for them to monitor humanitarian needs if they could not move outside of Banda Aceh.
"What we most worry about is the displacement of people and access, and the fact that we cannot go out in the field should there be a large-scale movement of population," Elmquist told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Elmquist said members of his staff were confined to Banda Aceh because of security reasons and they would need the military to provide them with a security guarantee to move around the province.
"We cannot reach other areas outside Banda Aceh due to security reasons. That means we cannot monitor humanitarian needs in those areas," he said.
"For the moment we do not have a dialog with the military commander in Aceh. They seem to be too busy to receive our officials. We have tried every day," he remarked.
The Indonesian government imposed martial law in Aceh at midnight on May 18 after the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) refused to lay down their weapons and give up their quest for independence.
According to government data, about 12,000 people have fled their homes. It estimated that about 200,000 people would likely take refuge due to the war in the province.
Education and food distribution have become the first casualties of the fighting as 327 schools have been set on fire over the past four days, leaving more than 80,000 students unable to continue their studies.
Elmquist said that his representative office in Banda Aceh was waiting for contact and other ground rules from the military in order for his office to do its job.
"We certainly hope that we can soon establish a working relationship with the military authorities in Banda Aceh," he said.
The official also said that 300 school kits and 50 tents, of which each could serve as an emergency classroom for 50 children, would be delivered to Indonesia next week.
He said that the UN had allocated US$12 million in assistance for Aceh and it was available for disbursement if they could reach the areas in need.
Meanwhile Reuters and Associated Press reported that the UN had warned of a grave humanitarian crisis for the children in Aceh, where government troops launched a new war against separatist insurgents this week.
About 23,000 children have been displaced in previous fighting in the troubled province of 4.3 million people and more will be homeless soon, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement.
The resumption of fighting "is undermining an already weak delivery of services and protection mechanisms," it said, adding that basic health services had collapsed and programs for assisting poor families and protecting vulnerable children had also broken down.
UNICEF said that it was sending 20 tons of emergency health kits to cover the basic needs of 200,000 people for three months and 20,000 hygiene kits for displaced families.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta office of UNICEF said on Friday that the emergency health kits for Aceh would be supplied from UNICEF's global supply center in Copenhagen and would arrive at Soekarno-Hatta Airport on Sunday.
"After clearing customs, the kits are expected to be freighted to Banda Aceh on Tuesday," said the statement.
The health kits provide key advice and messages on child development, nutrition and growth, safe hygiene practices, injury prevention and maintaining health during an emergency.