AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Tuesday November 27, 2001 4:51 PM
UN seeks help for Indonesians forced from homes, warns of new
conflict
United Nations officials launched a 41 million dollar appeal for Indonesians made
homeless by ethnic or religious conflicts, and warned of a potential new flare-up
between Christians and Muslims in one region.
Bo Asplund, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, said Tuesday the appeal by UN agencies
and international non-government organisations was to help care for an estimated 1.3
million people forced from their homes in the huge archipelago by "man-made
disasters" over the past three years.
Most had fled conflicts in Kalimantan, Aceh, Irian Jaya, Central Sulawesi or the
Malukus, which had erupted after the downfall in 1998 of president Suharto who kept a
tight lid on internal unrest.
Michael Elmquist, Asplund's deputy, told a press conference the situation in North
Maluku had stabilised and 43,000 out of 300,000 displaced people had gone home.
"The bad news is that the bulk of (Indonesia's) 1.3 million refugees have still to find
durable solutions."
Elmquist also said a mission to Central Sulawesi had found an "extremely tense"
situation. "We fear that unless the government makes exceptional efforts to maintain
peace there, we will soon be faced with more IDPs (internally displaced people)."
He said the mission was "somewhat disturbed to find the depth of hatred" between
Christians and Muslims there. A task force was making contingency plans "so that
we are prepared for the worst should it happen.
Poso town and surrounding areas in Central Sulawesi have seen intermittent clashes
between Muslims and Christians since December 1999.
Elmquist said possibly up to 7,000 members of Laskar Jihad -- a Java-based armed
Islamic group which has waged a "jihad" (holy war) against Christians in the Malukus
-- had moved to Poso.
He described the Laskar Jihad leader in Poso as a "very unforgiving" person.
"His attitude was that the Christians started this, we will finish it."
Elmquist said the original inhabitants were mainly Christian but many Muslim
transmigrants had moved in. Neither community could be blamed exclusively for the
trouble but "the only way to maintain peace is to have a firm but unbiased military."
Some analysts have described troops currently in the Poso area as mainly
pro-Muslim.
Elmquist said the death penalty passed on three leaders of an armed Christian group
had aggravated tensions, with the sentence seen by some as an example of official
bias.
The UN said the 41 million dollars would supplement the Indonesian government's own
spending on internal refugees.
"Many of them face hunger and disease and are deprived of the basic necessities of
life as they daily struggle to survive away from their homes," it said in a statement.
The UN also launched a separate appeal for 43 million dollars to help resettle an
estimated 77,000 East Timorese refugees still in Indonesian West Timor.
They were among those who fled or were forced across the border after East Timor's
August 1999 pro-independence vote, which triggered an orgy of militia violence.
Officials said some 23 million dollars would be used to pay benefits for former officials
or soldiers with the Indonesian government in East Timor. Without the payments they
would not return.
Raymond Hall, regional representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, said 189,000 refugees had already returned to the East amid a mood of
rising confidence.
Copyright © 2001 AFP. All rights reserved.
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