The Jakarta Post, June 15, 2007
Ambon's refugees are no better off after six years
M. Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon
For the people displaced by the Ambon conflict, the nightmare is far from over.
Over the three years of fighting, their houses were torched, possessions stolen and
family members killed.
Thousands of people were driven from their villages, most of whom have still not
received the assistance the government promised them and say they have been led
on a wild goose chase in meeting the requirements to obtain aid.
Western Seram refugee coordinator La Ali Wabula said he and 1,500 other displaced
families did not know where to turn next.
A series of meetings, including ones with Maluku Vice Governor M.A. Latuconsina
and Maluku Social Services Office head Fenno Tahalele, had been unproductive, he
said.
"Most of us have been refugees for eight years now, ever since the conflict broke out
in 1999, but we still haven't received our rights from the government," Wabula told The
Jakarta Post in Ambon.
He said refugees in western Seram were spread over a number of locations, including
Waitibu, Wralohi, Siompu, Kalibaru, Nurue and Kamal villages, as well as throughout
Maluku regency and in Ambon city.
The issue has been compounded by a lack of funding and solid data on the number of
refugees.
The Maluku Social Services Office says that there are currently 9,755 refugee
families, or 48,775 people, but this has not been verified. Maluku Governor Karel
Albert Ralahalu said that there was not solid data available on the number of refugees
in Maluku that had not received aid.
He said the data at the social services office was a combination of the refugee
numbers submitted by regencies and municipalities but needed to be verified.
He said that if the number of refugees was verified in the next two months, his
administration would set aside money from the provincial, regency and municipal
budgets for the refugees.
"We have all agreed to it, including the legislature. A team will validate and verify the
data once more in order to determine the exact figure," said Ralahalu.
Following the central government's decision to stop allocating refugee funds in 2008,
the provincial administration, together with regency and municipal administrations,
decided to use a budget sharing program to fund work.
Of the eight regions in Maluku, five accommodate the remaining refugees -- Ambon
city, Central Maluku, Buru, Western Seram and Aru Islands regencies.
The Maluku provincial administration officially handed over the authority of handling the
refugee program to municipal and regency administrations as of June 11.
However, a number of groups have urged that refugee command posts established by
the provincial administration be audited.
"State auditors must audit the command posts before disbanding them to account for
the use of refugee funds to the public, because there are no official accounts on the
amount of refugee funds channeled to Maluku so far," said Maluku Refugees Coalition
chairman Pieter Pattiwaelapia.
The head of the Ambon chapter of the Muslim Students Union, Bobby Tianotak,
concurred, saying that the humanitarian problem that was triggered by sectarian riots
would have been resolved long ago had the refugee handling program been done in an
honest and transparent manner.
"It's very unfortunate the humanitarian problem has otherwise benefited some people
seeking profits. The relevant institutions, like the Corruption Eradication Commission
and the prosecutor's office, should be proactive in investigating whether or not refugee
funds have been used as they should, especially by the social office and refugee
command posts," said Tianotak.
The government is unsure of the total amount of money already sent to Maluku, but it
is likely to amount to more that Rp 1 trillion (approximately US$111 million).
Maluku legislature Vice Speaker Sudarmo, said irresponsible persons were
responsible for the protracted refugee issues and that residents had falsely claimed to
be refugees and some refugees had received more aid than others, while corrupt civil
servants had also taken money meant for aid.
"The law must be upheld. Whoever is wrong and is proven to have misappropriated
refugee funds must be punished," said Sudarmo.
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