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.