The Jakarta Post, September 04, 2006
Refugees in Ambon face evicion, unclear future
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
Dozens of displaced families, who have been living in temporary accommodation in
downtown Ambon over the last six years face imminent eviction and have nowhere to
go.
On the one hand they will be forced to leave the accommodation center at Paso
village in Teluk district in Ambon, but on the other hand they are not prepared to move
as they are still demanding their rights to land and housing as refugees.
The law and order officers were scheduled to evict them Saturday, but failed to show
up. They were happy that the officers did not come as planned, but their happiness is
only temporary because they can come at any time.
Up to 88 families from various regions moved to the accommodation center in 2000,
after bloody religious conflicts hit Ambon.
The displaced people will be evicted because the Ambon administration plans to
develop Paso district into a major city development area. "Most people want the
administration to further develop Paso, but does the administration think about our
future?" asked Rev. J. Timisela, a refugee from the Buru Island.
Timisela said that as long as the displaced people were not given their rights as
refugees, they were determined not to leave the barracks. "We will not leave. We don't
have any land or houses... where will we live later?" she asked.
Timisela said only a handful of the displaced people had received their rights in the
form of building materials to construct houses.
Hengky Talakua, another refugee, said he had been unfairly treated by the
administration. "We cannot do anything while other refugees are enjoying their own
houses. We have not received equal treatment even though our houses were
devastated as well. We have lived in misery over the last six years," he said.
Christina Sitaniapessy, coordinator for the Buru refugees at MSF Paso camp, said
the number of heads of families displaced during the conflict initially reached 3,000.
Most of them have returned home to join the administration's repatriation program
launched in 2003 and 2004.
Up to 600 families from Buru still live in Ambon to date. They do not wish to return to
Buru for security reasons, Christina said.
Most of the refugees have been forced to find work as motorcycle taxi drivers or
laborers to support their families.
"It is very difficult for us to live this way. We have to earn a living to enable us to eat
and pay for our children's education. We used to get free electricity, but the facility
was stopped in 2004," she said.
Talking about the plots of land provided by the administration for relocation, she said
that all the refugees had been given land by the administration, but the problem was
that they were not able to pay for the land. It is not clear how much they have to pay
for the land.
The problem has become increasingly complicated because the relocation funds
provided by the administration were cut from Rp 10 million (US$1,052) to only Rp 8
million for each family head at a time when the prices of building materials are
escalating.
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