What about the refugees?

What about the refugees?

The civil unrest that has erupted in Aceh, East Timor, Ambon
and West Kalimantan these past few months has produced a new
problem which is no less complex or challenging than ending the
violence, but, for some unexplained reason, is often neglected:
the refugees, or the internally displaced people. If their plight
is not overwhelming enough to attract the attention of the media
and the public, then their number, conservatively estimated at
over 300,000, should ring alarm bells.

In Aceh, the figure, as supplied by non-governmental
organizations working with refugees, has reached 140,000 and is
growing by the day. Some fled to avoid clashes between rebels and
the military, but many fled from the growing presence of the
military itself. In East Timor, the United Nations office
organizing the August ballot has said there are an estimated
60,000 people in the territory who fled their homes because of
the violence. As in Aceh, the number of displaced people there is
rising and will probably increase after the ballot, whichever
side wins.

We had yet to come to terms with the mounting problems of some
100,000 refugees resulting from the communal strife in Ambon and
surrounding islands in Maluku, when new clashes erupted last
week. There is also the problem of some 35,000 migrants from
Madura island who fled the ethnic row with the local Dayaks in
West Kalimantan, not to mention the thousands of Sulawesi and
Javanese migrants who have fled East Timor. On Wednesday Antara
quoted a Ministry of Social Services official as saying that
Ujungpandang is currently sheltering some 470,000 people who fled
Ambon, Aceh, Irian Jaya and East Timor.

These statistics do not tell the full story of the harsh
conditions the refugees live in, and certainly not the extent of
the suffering they have had to endure. Occasionally their stories
are picked up by the local media, including this newspaper. We
have heard the reports of deaths in the refugee camps; because of
the squalid conditions, the outbreak of diseases; the
malnutrition; the stories of children deprived of school turning
to begging; and the stories of refugees scrambling for food.

Whatever hardships the estimated 800,000 Kosovar refugees have
had to endure, hardships are also happening here right under our
own noses. The only difference is that in the Indonesian refugee
camps there is no CNN or other big media outfit to expose their
plight the way they did -- with vigor, depth and effectiveness --
for the Kosovar refugees. Understandably, with the exception of
the East Timorese, the stories of these Indonesian refugees lack
international dimensions. The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees is assisting displaced East Timorese ahead of the
ballot, but its authority does not extend to other refugee camps,
since they are considered Indonesia's domestic problem.

But there is no excuse for concerned Indonesians, especially
for government officials and big time politicians in Jakarta, and
the national media, for paying scant attention to the plight of
the refugees. Everyone it seems, has been mesmerized by the petty
politicking of the political parties and of their leaders' fight
for power and seats. The entire nation appears more engrossed
with the debate about who should become president, and about
attaching endless criteria to the qualifications for the nation's
top job.

News of the plight of refugees in Aceh, East Timor, Ambon and
Kalimantan has hardly gained their attention, let alone reached
their hearts. Yet, it is plain to see that the refugee number is
growing and that the nation can no longer afford its
indifference.

Neglect can be costly, as the latest unrest in Ambon has
attested. Last week, looting and burning extended for the first
time to shops owned by Chinese traders. In the January and
February mayhem these shops were spared, as Moslems and
Christians fought one another. The incident indicates that
conditions are becoming desperate if people are attacking shops,
their only supply of basic needs.

Unless the nation quickly comes to grips with the issue, the
refugee problem will most likely escalate, and this could prove
to be a very powerful time bomb.