An interesting pair of articles has come out this week, on August 11 and 13, by Brian Padden for Voice of America. Mr Padden was gathering information for stories on the distribution of aid for tsunami survivors versus individuals and families in conflict-affected areas. JMD staff spent over a week taking the Jakarta-based reporter to significant parts of Aceh, especially Aceh Jaya on the west coast, to see firsthand the combined effects of the tsunami and the protracted conflict. The first article, reprinted below, touches on some of the work Building Bridges to the Future has done in this area. We’re hoping, however, that Mr Padden takes advantage of the additional sources we had lined up for him, including female ex-combatants) and that subsequent stories paint a more complete picture of the smaller and hard-working NGO’s that have been offering aid in unpopular and hard-to-access areas, where larger agencies fear to tread (or spend time and money).
Fragile Four-Year Peace Prevails in Indonesia's Aceh Province – VOA 11 Aug 09
August 15 marks the fourth anniversary of peace in Aceh province in Indonesia. The tsunami that decimated the region in 2004, killing nearly 170,000 people, and the immense international relief effort that followed helped end a 30-year separatist war. The former leaders the Free Aceh Movement renounced their fight for independence in exchange for leadership roles and a degree of autonomy in Aceh. While peace prevails, it is still fragile.
Aceh's economy
Music and dance performances helped bring out large crowds to the Aceh International Expo. This is in part a celebration of Aceh's growing economic power as an exporter of rice, coffee, oil and natural gas. It is also a testament to the peace that has prevailed in the four years since the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM, and the Indonesian government signed a peace settlement in Helsinki, Finland. Chairul Nispa runs a Toyota dealership. He says since the Helsinki agreement, business is getting better, especially in the automotive business. Instead of outsiders brought in by the Jakarta government, former Acehnese rebels are now in charge of the local government and local police are now in charge of security. General Amiruddin Usman, the Aceh security coordinator for the Indonesian government, says the military has for the most part moved to bases outside the region. He says the key to the success of the peace agreement has been the military's restraint in not engaging the former insurgents. Under the peace deal, the local government gets 70 percent of the revenue from Aceh's huge gas and oil reserves. The Jakarta government gets the rest.
Lack of trust hinders peace
But analyst Teuku Kamaruzzaman says the peace remains fragile because neither side trusts the other. He says it is not clear how the percentage of gas and oil revenue is determined. The central and local governments are still arguing over who will be the independent arbiter. Human rights activists also protest the failure to create the truth and reconciliation commission that the peace agreement calls for. Hendra Budian with the Aceh Judicial Monitoring Institute says while it may be uncomfortable to those in power, it is necessary to account for war crimes and abuses that occurred during the decades of conflict. "We cannot forget that. This is also for history," said Budian. "Otherwise it can repeat again. Why? Because there is no instrument to cut the cycle of the violence." Crime remains a problem in region, because many ex-insurgents have not received the training or support to lead peaceful, productive lives. At an open-air restaurant in the rural district of Pidie Jaya, some villagers say the economic benefits of peace have not filtered down to them.
Unemployment, a threat to peace
One villager says it is hard to find jobs, mainly because of the lack of capital. Hendra Budian says in place of the struggle for independence, unemployment and poverty are now the greatest threats to peace. "We finished the vertical conflict in between Aceh and Jakarta," continued Budian. "If we cannot solve this problem we will move to another conflict which is what we call a horizontal conflict, Aceh and Aceh." A group called Building Bridges To The Future has funded projects to help conflict victims in Pidie Jaya. It organized adult education classes. A student says in the past during the conflict, she could not go to school. There was no school. The organization also provided 30 goats and training to others. The group now has 80 goats and earns about $40 a day selling milk. Selling a goat can raise more than $150. The group's members are digging a new well to irrigate their farms and improve crop production. To insure a lasting peace, Budian says the local government must take over and expand education and development opportunities for all the people of Aceh.
--Brian Padden
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Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Headline: "Rohingya Not Our Problem, Burma Tells Bali Meeting"
A friend closely following the Bali Process and the Aceh Rohingya issue wrote us the day before yesterday:
Dear all,
No solutions for the Rohingya emerged from the Bali Process.
Statement by Stephen Smith, Foreign Minister of Australia. The Australians have donated $3.2 million to help the Rohingya. I have heard that this will be channeled through the UN and NGO AustCare (who work in NRS), but it may be worthwhile following up with them and asking if a small part of that might go towards the Rohingya in Aceh.Mention at the end of an ad-hoc working group being set up to discuss Rohingya issues further and come up with recommendations.
Strong statement from Bangladesh to follow.
Rohingya not our problem, Burma tells Bali meeting
Tom Allard in Nusa Dua, Bali
April 16, 2009
A LASTING solution to the plight of Burma's Rohingya minority remains elusive after Burma yesterday continued to deny they were its citizens or acknowledge they were persecuted.
Burma's police chief made the comments at the Bali Process meeting, a people-smuggling summit involving more than 40 regional nations and heralded as the forum that would address the Rohingya problem after several aborted attempts to tackle the issue.
The Rohingya came to global prominence this year when Thailand's military was accused of towing the boats of as many as 1000 asylum-seekers out to sea and leaving them to drift at the mercy of the currents without adequate food and water.
Those incidents in January also refocused attention on Burma's treatment of the Rohingya. Hundreds of thousands have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh or attempted the perilous sea crossing to South-East Asia.
Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, was among the leaders to hold talks with Brigadier-General Khin Yi, the deputy minister for home affairs and police chief of Burma (also known as Myanmar). Mr Smith pledged $3.2 million to aid programs for the Rohingya.
"Australia put to Myanmar all the human rights, democratic and rule of law issues that we have in the past," Mr Smith said of their discussions.
"The response from the police chief was … the traditional response of Myanmar not to accept the notion of citizenship."
Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, said he and others at the summit had told Brigadier-General Yi that "social and economic problems" were behind the exodus of Rohingyas, some of whom have washed ashore in Indonesia's province of Aceh. "Myanmar denied [the flight of the Rohingyas] was because of human-rights violations," he said.
Asylum-seekers from Myanmar have said they suffer beatings by Burma's security forces and had their property stolen while having punishing taxes levied on them.
Meanwhile, Thailand avoided scrutiny for its treatment of the Rohingya altogether after its foreign minister failed to turn up due to the political crisis in his homeland. He was represented by a deputy secretary from the Thai Foreign Ministry.
As well as towing out at least four boatloads of Rohingyas who had landed in Thailand, the Thai military is also accused of administering severe beatings to some of the asylum-seekers.
An ad hoc working group from Bali Process nations may address the Rohingya issue at a later date but any recommendations it makes will be non-binding.
Dear all,
No solutions for the Rohingya emerged from the Bali Process.
Statement by Stephen Smith, Foreign Minister of Australia. The Australians have donated $3.2 million to help the Rohingya. I have heard that this will be channeled through the UN and NGO AustCare (who work in NRS), but it may be worthwhile following up with them and asking if a small part of that might go towards the Rohingya in Aceh.Mention at the end of an ad-hoc working group being set up to discuss Rohingya issues further and come up with recommendations.
Strong statement from Bangladesh to follow.
Rohingya not our problem, Burma tells Bali meeting
Tom Allard in Nusa Dua, Bali
April 16, 2009
A LASTING solution to the plight of Burma's Rohingya minority remains elusive after Burma yesterday continued to deny they were its citizens or acknowledge they were persecuted.
Burma's police chief made the comments at the Bali Process meeting, a people-smuggling summit involving more than 40 regional nations and heralded as the forum that would address the Rohingya problem after several aborted attempts to tackle the issue.
The Rohingya came to global prominence this year when Thailand's military was accused of towing the boats of as many as 1000 asylum-seekers out to sea and leaving them to drift at the mercy of the currents without adequate food and water.
Those incidents in January also refocused attention on Burma's treatment of the Rohingya. Hundreds of thousands have fled to refugee camps in neighbouring Bangladesh or attempted the perilous sea crossing to South-East Asia.
Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, Stephen Smith, was among the leaders to hold talks with Brigadier-General Khin Yi, the deputy minister for home affairs and police chief of Burma (also known as Myanmar). Mr Smith pledged $3.2 million to aid programs for the Rohingya.
"Australia put to Myanmar all the human rights, democratic and rule of law issues that we have in the past," Mr Smith said of their discussions.
"The response from the police chief was … the traditional response of Myanmar not to accept the notion of citizenship."
Indonesia's Foreign Minister, Hassan Wirajuda, said he and others at the summit had told Brigadier-General Yi that "social and economic problems" were behind the exodus of Rohingyas, some of whom have washed ashore in Indonesia's province of Aceh. "Myanmar denied [the flight of the Rohingyas] was because of human-rights violations," he said.
Asylum-seekers from Myanmar have said they suffer beatings by Burma's security forces and had their property stolen while having punishing taxes levied on them.
Meanwhile, Thailand avoided scrutiny for its treatment of the Rohingya altogether after its foreign minister failed to turn up due to the political crisis in his homeland. He was represented by a deputy secretary from the Thai Foreign Ministry.
As well as towing out at least four boatloads of Rohingyas who had landed in Thailand, the Thai military is also accused of administering severe beatings to some of the asylum-seekers.
An ad hoc working group from Bali Process nations may address the Rohingya issue at a later date but any recommendations it makes will be non-binding.