The Cross

 

Ambon Berdarah On-Line
News & Pictures About Ambon/Maluku Tragedy

 

 


 

 

 

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE


AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Tuesday December 24, 2002

Indonesia to halt all aid to internal refugees in February

JAKARTA, Dec 24 (AFP) - The Indonesian government is to suspend aid to internal refugees come February because there are no longer any conflict areas in the country, a minister said Tuesday.

"There are no more conflict areas. What is left is to repatriate the refugees," top welfare minister Yusuf Kalla said after meeting Vice President Hamzah Haz, the Detikcom online news service reported.

Kalla said the separatist conflict in Aceh was resolved and violence between Muslims and Christians had ended both in the Maluku islands and at Poso in Sulawesi. There was also no further racial or communal violence in several areas of Kalimantan.

"If by the set deadline the refugee problem cannot yet be settled, then the government will no longer provide (aid) guarantees because it considers that the regions are already safe," he said.

The government now provides food and monetary assistance worth 3,000 rupiah (35 cents) per day for thousands of refugees from various conflict areas.

Kalla estimated there were still as many as 200,000 internally displaced people in Ambon, North Maluku and Madura island. Another 25,000 remained in East Timor.

Kalla initiated two peace pacts between Muslim and Christian communities in the Maluku and North Maluku provinces and in Poso district. Sporadic clashes continue in those areas.

Madura is home to thousands of ethnic Madurese who fled West and Central Kalimantan following attacks by indigenous Dayaks and Malays.

UN officials estimate that almost 1.4 million Indonesians remain displaced after fleeing their homes since 1999 to escape various outbreaks of violence.

Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved.
 


Copyright © 1999-2001 - Ambon Berdarah On-Line * http://www.go.to/ambon
HTML page is designed by
Alifuru67 * http://www.oocities.org/kesui2001
Send your comments to
alifuru67@yahoogroups.com
This web site is maintained by the Real Ambonese - 1364283024 & 1367286044