UN asks for access to deliver humanitarian assistance in Aceh
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.