“It’s reasonable now to talk about genocide prevention in Myanmar.”

The New York Times hasn’t let up on the Rohingya crisis, and it’s taken a nasty turn--as if it could get any nastier.  (Rohingya Women Flee Violence Only to Be Sold Into Marriage, August 2)

In true malicious-government fashion, Myanmar has forced so many Rohingya men to flee to Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia that a new and nefarious demand has cropped up—Rohingya men want to start families where they live and so are paying traffikers (again, Rohingya) who see a good market and trick young women into traveling out of the country with their families—only to be sold to the Rohingya men.

For the Myanmar government, this is perfect.  Where have we heard this refrain before: “See? It isn’t our fault—they’re doing it to themselves.”  East Timor, Aceh . . . sound familiar?  You dehumanize a population to the point where it is impossible to act for the good of the group; everyone is relying on blind and desperate instinct, and morality falls away. As Matthew Smith of Fortify Rights says, “It’s reasonable now to talk about genocide prevention in Myanmar.”  And Rohingya activist Nur warns, “If this keeps up, in 30-40 years there will be no Rohingya culture.  Everything is shutting down on us.”

Ambiya Khatu, center, with her niece and mother, married a man in Malaysia who paid $1,050 for her release from smugglers. Credit Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

“I was allowed to call my parents, and they said that if I was willing, it would be better for all the family,” said Shahidah Yunus, 22. “I understood what I must do.”

She joined the hundreds of young Rohingya women from Myanmar sold into marriage to Rohingya men already in Malaysia as the price of escaping violence and poverty in their homeland.

The True Asians: time to allow the Rohingya to receive “stateless passports”

I read an English summary of a really interesting article last week, by Rossen Yankov, a Bulgarian journalist, who was advocating for the issuance of a European passport for the Roma ethnic group, many of whom live in Bulgaria but being nomadic are really stateless and should be given stateless citizenship/passports. “They are not Bulgarian; they are European,” states Yankov.  The entire article, which was in Bulgarian, was difficult to translate, but lest we think that Yankov is nothing but a warm and fuzzy humanitarian, the objective behind his argument Is much like that of the majority in Myanmar: Rohingya may live here, and may have lived here for generations, but this isn’t really their nationality, so why should we have to bear the sole burden of caring for them?  Of course, Myanmar doesn’t spend any time thinking up solutions like Mr Yankov; they just torment and kill their ethnic minority, forcing them to either get out or die.  Which got me thinking: there are two types of nomads in the word: nomads by tradition, like the Roma, the Tuareg, the Berber . . . and then there are nomads by necessity, like the Rohingya.  

 

Shouldn’t the Rohingya be considered nomadic now?  Expelled from their country of origin—and make no mistake, Myanmar is where these particular individuals originated—they are forced to wander the world in search of employment, sustenance, peace.  And if they are considered nomads, wouldn’t the Roma/EU argument apply—that they should be given stateless citizenship/passports?

Some governments make concessions  for nomads—access to pasture, participation in government, voting rights that are fluid across states depending on where the Nomad is in the yearly travel cycle.  Some nomads stay within country borders, some do not.  

So what happens if a country through torture, genocide and exile, creates a nomadic tribe, and the world through its inaction is complicit in this creation-- should that group not be given the same opportunities that the traditional group receives?

Of the Roma, the largest minority in Europe, Yankov says, “They are the eternal strangers here, there, and everywhere else. . . . They are the true Europeans.”

The Rohingya, also, are eternal strangers everywhere.  Are they now not the true Asians?

So THIS is why Angelina was nowhere to be found when the Rohingya were dying in June

An interesting April post in un-truth.com by international journalist Marian Houk regarding our favorite fly-by-night philanthropist, Angelina Jolie, has me wondering, yet again: which tail is wagging which dog? 

 “UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie has just been given the floor to address the UNSC on Syria, and used the word “We” when speaking of the UN failures there…”

It seems that several branches of the UN feel that the only way to stress the seriousness of some of the atrocities being committed by world governments is to have a beautiful, carefully dressed celebrity issue the UN Security Council a prepared speech while winking at her rapt audience.  Houk calls this a “ridiculous scheme” and notes that Jolie’s speech on Syria was certainly not her own, although it was probably the only way “to explain the UNSC to Angelina Jolie’s fan base.”  Pointed and thoughtful comments on the speech included one from Syria’s Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Al-Jaafari: “She’s beautiful.”

 Very helpful.  

The Daily Mail also stressed the seriousness of the event by noting “The 39-year-old actress and director spoke at the United Nations in New York on Friday dressed in a white blazer, matching skirt and delicate jewelry. She had removed her $250,000 diamond engagement ring to make her speech.” [Embarrassment?  Shame?  Fear that a brown member of the UNSC would steal it?]

And of course, this tidbit: “Earlier this month, a business associate of Jolie and husband Brad Pitt told The Daily Express that the couple want to adopt a little Syrian girl.”  Of course they do. That will solve everything.

Jolie ‘s speech urged the UNSG to end the conflict in Syria: “If we cannot end the conflict, we have an inescapable moral duty to help refugees and provide legal avenues to safety.”

This just wasn’t convenient for her to reiterate in May and June when thousands of Rohingya were being killed and left for dead at sea.  And she’d just said it a month before so what’s the sense of repeating herself? Plus, she already went to the Rohingya camps in 2009.  Singing the same old humanitarian song would be so . . . unflatteringly redundant.

You gotta love her wiggling right in there and making herself a member of the UNSC. Houk caught it too: “We” = meaning, the UN Security Council + Angelina Jolie?

Faaaaabulous.

“It is completely incongruous for UN Goodwill Ambassadors to address the UN Security Council on matters of substance relating to some of the worst and most intractable conflicts in the world,” notes Houk.  But, as she points out, how low have we sunk if star status is the only way the UN or any international body will take notice?

More from Angelina's address:  “It is sickening to see thousands of refugees drowning on the doorstep of the world’s wealthiest continent. No one risks the lives of their children in this way except out of utter desperation . . . We are standing by, in Syria.”

 Oh we are, are we?  I want to see Ms Jolie in Syria, standing by.  I want to see her in Aceh, in Myanmar, in Malaysia, standing by.  I want her to at least be in a panel discussion, using her own thoughts, words and passion for a cause, like Matt Dillon did.  But she and her publicists have no time for that.  The clock is ticking.  As we can see from the photo, Angelina’s It-Girl days are coming to a close so she needs to find a few more crises to dress up for.

I would like to address the UN.  I’ve worked with more marginalized groups than Angelina.  And it seems that nobody cared enough about the Rohingya to trot her out to wink at the Myanmar Ambassador. Is it my lack of fame?  My decidedly un-glamorous hair and not-so-pouty lips? or does this body, as Houk says, “prioritize fund-raising over political [and therefore controversial] work?”  Still, the bigger question is: why does it take a celebrity, seeking more celebrity status, to move people, agencies, and governments to take action?  Why can’t people, agencies and governments man up and do the right thing all on their own?

I give up. 

 https://un-truth.com/goodwill-ambassadors/more-celebrity-un-goodwill-ambassador-news-angelina-jolie-addresses-unsc-on-syria

Ten “escape” from Rohingya refugee camp . . . but for what reason?

The staff at JMD told me today that seven women at the refugee camp In Bayeun (that’s the one in Aceh Timur that Robert visited) escaped.  That was really all he knew, so I scoured international media (nada) and local media for more information.  One outlet, Lintas Atjeh, added a bit more to the story . . . but not much.

Apparently ten refugees (nine women and one man) left the camp on July 9th, but three, including the man, were “successfully recaptured” at the Bayeun bridge about 30 meters away and brought back to the camp without incident.  So seven are still “on the loose.”

It was reported that the refugees had help from community members, but were spotted by other camp members, who reported them to authorities.

[Are you noticing, up to this point, my heroic restraint in sticking just to the facts?]

The police are, apparently, on the lookout for the remaining seven women.

http://www.lintasatjeh.com/2015/07/sepuluh-orang-rohingya-di-kamp.html (in Indonesian)

So many questions, so many possibilities.

Colleagues here have asked me to speculate.

So I’m speculating.  That’s all.  Just speculating.

Let’s start with 2009, when JMD was involved in setting up one of the first camps for Rohingya refugees in Idi, Aceh Timur.  There were about 200 men and teen boys—no women, and conditions were not ideal.  As JMD handed over the running of the camp to provincial authorities and the Rohingya’s detention wore on, there were many reports of abuse of the boys in the camps, and back then, if someone “escaped,” there was no one from the authorities who went looking for them or tried to bring them back.  In fact, the majority of those refugees from 2009 walked out of the camp; this was the way that the province decided to address the problem and empty the camps.  As is the case now, their country of origin wasn’t going to take them back, and it was costing more than the province had to keep the camp going.  The solution? “Escapes.”  It was basically walk-offs.

You may wonder why someone would want to leave a camp after coming from a place where death or a lifetime of severe hardship was a near-certainty, only to face a foreign land where you did not speak the language and had no visible means of keeping yourself alive.  But you have to remember that most refugees, at least those from Myanmar, left in order to land in Malaysia and then “disappear” into life there.  Only those who were rescued at sea or found by authorities on shore either in Malaysia or took a wrong turn at the Malacca Straight and ended up in Aceh were sent to camps—better than death, better than Myanmar, but not the original plan.  The original plan was to blend in to the new landscape and remain free to take advantage of whatever opportunities came their way.

So for a man anyway, landing in a refugee camp might be ideal for a week or two, but then you want to leave and get on with it.  The difference this time, apparently, is that the authorities are instructed to go after walk-offs and bring them back.

So what about the women?  Well, it could be that the one man was the trafficker, and he agreed to take the women out of the camp because they paid him.  In 2009 we dealt frequently with a trafficker there—they get swept up in the rescues as well, after all.  They usually speak more than the language of the refugees, they know people, they have connections on the outside (on many outsides) and they are always working the system. They are consummate businessmen, and can’t make any money sitting in a camp. Unless someone in camp is paying them to get them out of camp.

So this man—let’s call him a trafficker (as in coyote, not a sex or slavery trafficker, just a get-me-out-of-here trafficker) for speculation’s sake—was either really bad at his profession or just a con man who took the women’s money and then got himself re-caught to go back and get more money to do it again.  But then that begs the question: why did only women go with him?  What would make just women, and no men, decide to pay a trafficker to help them escape the camp? So he could have been involved in sex trafficking from before, and these nine women were “his.”  Or something more nefarious was going on in the camp itself.  Nine women and no men (except the male helper) leave the camp into a country they know nothing about, leaving their children (one assumes), not speaking the language or having a skill or knowing where they will stay or when they will eat--what was going on in that camp to make them leave like that? How bad could it have gotten and why was it unbearable for just the women?

This new wave of Rohingya refugees is different because before, only the men came.  Even though life sucked back in Myanmar, it was thought to be too dangerous for a woman in the wilds of wherever these people were going to end up.  But now women, little children and babies are here, which points to two really gruesome things: life has gotten so bad in Myanmar that even small children are not safe, and that the dynamic in a confined camp has now changed to where women are once again prey: to other refugees, to camp officials and workers, to any man who wants to take advantage of the situation.

-->

A friend who I told about this wanted to do her own search, wrote me, “The only thing I can find are generalized reports: women flee because Buddhist police formed murder squads; women flee to avoid being sold to China for sex trade; women flee because of gang rapes; abused women try to flee Ban Mai Nai Soi refugee camp in Thailand . . .”  Do you sense a possible pattern here?

Remember, I’m just speculating about this escape.

But I will assure you, no explanation is a happy one.

Finally: a new article on the Rohingya—and in the New York Times no less

Just when I was giving up hope that the story of the Rohingya would be forgotten by most of the world press after a month of good publicity, a great story comes out in the Times (July 5) called “A Migrant Mother’s

Anguished Choice.”  Read it here; it will give you nightmares.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/06/world/asia/myanmar-rohingya-refugee-crisis-malaysia.html?_r=0

There is also a good map of the route that refugees take from Myanmar; most end up in Malaysia but many, as we know, have arrived in Aceh, and on the map you can see why.

A July 4 Forbes article, “Do Myanmar’s Rohingya really need citizenship now?” reiterates what I’ve been saying about the Aceh people’s willingness to help the refugees: “The Bangladeshis and Rohingya couldn’t have chosen a better place to end up than Aceh, by the way. The welcome by the Acehnese people and Indonesian health services couldn’t be warmer; the Acehnese may even end up inviting the 900-plus Rohingya men, women and children to stay permanently; the approximately 900 Bangladeshis, all men, will be sent home.” [As explained in a previous post, this is because the refugees from Bangladesh are not considered to be in danger; rather they are seeking economic betterment outside Bangladesh.]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susancunningham/2015/07/04/do-myanmars-rohingya-really-need-citizenship-now/

Also of note is JMD Board member Lilianne Fan, research fellow with the Humanitarian Policy Group of Britain’s Overseas Development Institute (ODI), being interviewed for this article regarding the perception of many in Myanmar (including other oppressed minorities) that the Rohingya are not citizens and are “coming in and taking their jobs and land.”  In order to address this, as well as the immediate crisis, “We have to shift the narrative a little bit to, “The Rohingya are people like us. We’re all part of this complex history.”

 

During Ramadan . . . remember the Rohingya

Not much to update re: the Rohingya refugee camp in Aceh Timur.  Local media and other sources report that ACT will still purchase land for rice fields to feed the refugees, but no details have been ironed out yet, and no purchase has happened.  The head of the military base at Aceh Utara, however, has stated publicly that he supported this and has promised that a officer from the base will work with ACT if the plan moves forward.

As Junaidi from JMD said, “We will watch and see this from afar.”

And as life in the camp continues, so does the discovery of more Rohingya victims of trafficking:

Malaysia buries another 24 human trafficking victims

06 July 2015

Total number of suspected Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants given Muslim burials reaches 99 after 106 bodies found near Thai border 

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/news/550566--malaysia-buries-another-24-human-trafficking-victims  

And lest we forget:

Horrible Rohingya Muslims massacre by Buddhists supported by Burmese government

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sK0h7Zqs3k

BURMANIZATION & ROHINGYA GENOCIDE (Amnesty International)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0W2SrQL97U

It’s actually hard to find any new reports this month. Certainly nothing on Myanmar or its reaction to "threats" of sanctions.

See?  The world  is already forgetting the Rohingya . . . again . . . . 

Update on the petition to Jokowi, plus: another agency helping the Rohingya in Aceh?

A few days ago I posted some information on a group called Coalition for Caring for the Rohingya and their petition to President Jokowi asking that Indonesia cut all ties with Myanmar until all Rohingya are acknowledged as citizens and given all rights due them.  JMD additionally reports that a CNN news story in Indonesia stated that the petition also seeks to take Myanmar to International court for crimes against humanity.

The petition was posted to the House of Representative Tuesday, with a copy to the President, and additional admonitions from Malaysia’s Prime Minister Mahatir to expel Myanmar from ASEAN, but so far there is no word regarding how the petition was treated, dealt with, or paid attention to.  I did find out a little more abut the Coalition, however, and the man who started it.

Apparently, the Coalition for Caring for the Rohingya was the idea of attorney and Muslim activist Adnin Armas of Jakarta. Pak Adnin is also head of the Indonesian Society for Social Transformation (INSIST) in Jakarta.  One of their web pages is embedded in the Quebec-based Alternatives International site, which states:

INSIST goal is to eliminate all types and forms of injustice by promoting empowerment of groups that have, to this point, been placed in weak, marginalised positions. They must be empowered to become active, critical actors in all processes of social transformation, moving towards the realisation of more just economic, political, and cultural systems, so that they can make a greater contribution to the advancement of civilization and humanity overall.

Okay, great. However, their other web page, http://insist.or.id/?lang=en, is far more vague and frankly I can’t figure out what their mission is:

Since the late 1980s, there has been a restlessness in seeing the development of many NGOs in Indonesia. After a long process of reflection, supported by many real experiences in the field and critical studies, INSIST (the Institute for Social Transformation) was established in Jogyakarta, 10 December  1997. Since then, much has been done that has put INSIST at the forefront of Indonesian efforts to develop critical discourse, alternative perspectives, and new discourses. INSIST has become a creative, productive supporting system for people’s organizations and social movements in this country.

In other words: yakety-yak-yak-yak.  I do love a good academic discourse.

Likeminded agencies in Jakarta have signed the petition, but it’s still unclear as to which “communities” in Aceh or what members of those communities signed it.  We hear that many Rohingya in the camps signed it, but still don’t know if it was signed by local leaders, community members, or others.  JMD called contacts in Banda Aceh and at the Governor’s office; no on seemed to know much about it.  Which is either a sign that the petition is a flash in the pan (as JMD suspects; there are often “pop up” groups in Aceh responding to political or social events), or indicative of an Aceh bureaucracy still too preoccupied with itself to pay attention to outside issues.  Either way: not so good.

I also came across an interesting group that JMD has never heard of, but who are apparently very good at raising funds to help the Rohingya.  The gofundme.com campaign of the Us-Sunnah Foundation has so far raised $80,000 to provide food and supplies to Rohingya refugees in Indonesia. http://ussunnah.org/rohingya  The Foundation, stared by Al Camarata of California, is registered in the US (possibly Arizona) and in Indonesia; their office is outside Jakarta in Tangerang.  I am so happy that a faith-based organization has so much good ground support and seems to be directing their funds to those most in need. 

However.

Again, no one we spoke to has ever heard of this foundation,  yet they boast that “We have seen other fundraisers for the refugees online but have not seen any of them on the ground. . . . . we are working in coop[eration] with all organizations on the ground as well as the Indonesian government. . . . we are the only organization . . .  actively seeking funds internationally for these refugee camps.”

Excuse me????

So of course my blood starts to boil and I call my stalwart detectives, who tell me that none of their friends or colleagues know of this foundation either, but further digging reveals that they do support a known entity at the camps, who Robert met, called ACT, (Aksi Cepat Tanggap) a Jakarta based NGO who has built a meeting hall and classroom/study area at the camp in Aceh Utara.

Us-Sunnah also stated that they purchased some land near the camp in Aceh Utara to plant rice to feed the refugees:

Yesterday us-Sunnah (registered nonprofit US and Indonesia) completed the purchase on a 7,500+ sqm (81,000+ sqft) rice field and put the down payment on another about 4,000 sqm (43,000 sqft), both of which can be used immediately and are already prepared for use. This is the first plot for our waqf (endowment) which will harvest several tonnes of rice every 4 to 6 months for hundreds or thousands of years.

But JMD tells me that as far as anyone knows, there has been no purchase and these plans are far from final and that acquiring land from the government could be difficult.  Perhaps it’s just a lease?  Either way, it would be good to know if the refugees can work in this field to grow their own food, or if the government has to provide labor and maintenance.

So I have asked JMD to please get in touch with Mr Camarata from us-Sunnah and introduce ourselves as the ONLY LOCAL agency working in Aceh and the agency that established the Rohingya camp in Aceh Timur in 2009 and perhaps we could conduct some mutual support and information sharing in the future.

They’re doing a nice Ramadan campaign on their Facebook Page, https://www.facebook.com/ussunnah  and if all their proceeds go to the Rohingya I will seek them out and thank them personally myself.

Aceh sends Jakarta a petition: cut all ties with Myanmar until the Rohingya are treated fairly

Bravo Aceh! The Rohingya refugee crisis has spurred human rights activists, normally timid and discouraged by provincial government officials, to join together to protest the inhumane treatment of Rohingya Muslims by Myanmar.

 

Today’s Andalou Agency post reports that “At a press conference to launch its plea Monday, the Coalition for Caring for Rohingya urged the government to act decisively against Myanmar's government, which it said had played a key role in the humanitarian crisis faced by [the] Muslim ethnic group.”

‘This is not a sectarian conflict, and not a horizontal conflict... this happened because of strong support from the Myanmar government on some violent actions such as murder, slaughter, and destruction,’ Coalition Chairman Adnin Armas told reporters.

Coalition for Caring for Rohingya is made up of members from several communities in Aceh, where there are currently 1062 refugees in Aceh Utara and Aceh Timur, who have been living in camps since the latest wave of refugees arrived two months ago.

The group is petitioning President Jokowi to reconsider Indonesia's relations with Myanmar, and demands Indonesian businessmen and state companies suspend investments in the country. It also calls for the revocation of Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations].

The petition will be posted to the House of Representatives and given President to Jokowi tomorrow; members of the group are also asking that the Rohingya be allowed to stay in Aceh until all issues with Myanmar are resolved.

While I don’t expect Jokowi to issue edicts cutting ties with Myanmar, I’ll be paying close attention to see what he does do, and how he publicly addresses this petition.  It is, after all, the ASEAN neighbors of Myanmar who will make the biggest impression; hopefully the threat of economic losses will sway Myanmar; ethics and human compassion certainly hasn’t done much.

http://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/546760--indonesia-aceh-wants-myanmar-punished-for-rohingya-abuse

Bayeun Refugee Camp Report, Aceh Timur

Robert submitted his assessment report yesterday so I wanted to present it here, with some additional photos. As you’ll read, many agencies and volunteers are at the camp now, but they only have enough supplies for three months.  So far I do not hear the world clamoring to provide additional help.  Hopefully IOM and Save the Children will apply for, and receive, additional funds.

But as usual, missing in all of this is any thought, care or assistance from Myanmar.  And world interest is fading fast.  The last editorial was May 20 from the Los Angeles Times: A global obligation to Myanmar's Rohingya refugees http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-refugees-rohingya-myanmar-20150524-story.html

Then on May 29^th CNN reported on the summit, which resulted in some lukewarm agreement by all involved countries -- Thailand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar – “on the need for regional and international cooperation in reaching solutions for the problem, and . . .that the immediate need is to provide relief for the estimated thousands still stranded at sea.” Yes, and does that change Myanmar’s refusal to lift a finger?  It does not. In fact, during the proceedings, “Volker Turk, assistant high commissioner for protection, at the UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, said that Myanmar has a responsibility to its people, and that the granting of citizenship to stateless people in the country is key.”  But Myanmar's delegate, Htin Lynn, Special Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, countered, saying that Turk was "politicizing the issue by singling out Myanmar as a major cause of the crisis that has dragged on for weeks.”

"My dear colleague at UNHCR needs to be better informed," he said. "Finger pointing will not solve anything. It will take us nowhere." http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/29/asia/thailand-regional-migrant-meeting/

Neither, apparently, will any appeals to Myanmar to be humane and civilized and take back its citizens.

Seems like the meeting was a waste of time.

And after the meeting, what news of the refugees?

Nothing.

Apparently Reuters was at the Aceh Timur camp about the same time Robert was, because there are similar photos on the Sydney Morning herald’s very good May 29^th story, “Asian migrant crisis: Myanmar rejects responsibility for Rohingya refugees” http://www.smh.com.au/world/asian-migrant-crisis-myanmar-rejects-responsibility-for-rohingya-refugees-20150529-ghcajn.html

But I don’t think you’ll find a more comprehensive report of what is happening in the camps than the one Robert prepared for us.

Initial Assessment Report of Rohingya Refugees at the Bayeun Camp, Aceh Timur

Compiled by Robert Harmiani, Field officer for JMD.  Photos by Robert Harmiani

Translation provided by Junaidi Rusli, JMD Associate Director

Background

Civil rights violations and the persecution of ethnic and religious Myanmar has forced thousands of Myanmar citizens—especially the Muslim Rohingya people-- leave the country in fear for their lives.

In May 2015, Acehnese fishermen rescued several boatloads of Rohingya (from both Myanmar and Bangladesh) that had been adrift at sea for 3 months.

Currently there are 1,791 refugees being accommodated by the Indonesian government and located in camps in Aceh (Aceh Tamiang, Aceh Utara, Aceh Timur, Langsa) and North Sumatra (Medan).  The Myanmar refugees are seeking political asylum, whereas those from Bangladesh are looking for economic opportunities that can’t be found in their own country.

In the newest camp in Beyeun, the Bangladesh refugees and the Myanmar refugees are separated in different tents, since those seeking economic asylum only (Bangladesh) will have to be returned to their country, whereas the persecuted Rohingya from Myanmar will be offered asylum for up to one year.  It is unknown at this point what the disposition of the Rohingya refugees will be after the year has ended. The immigration authorities are currently drawing up paperwork for the return of the Bangladesh refugees (as well as insuring that they are identified correctly).

Below is a chart of the current status of refugees in the camps in Aceh as of June 2015:

Location	Rohingya Myanmar				Bangladesh				Total
	Male	Female	Child	Total	Male	Female	Child	Total
Aceh:
Aceh Utara	107	36	189	332	235	0	11	246	578
Aceh Timur	113	46	182	341	52	0	0	0	52
Langsa	63	48	135	246	394	1	37	432	678
Kuala Simpang	14	4	19	37	9	0	0	0	9
Sub –Total	297	134	525	956	690	1	48	739	1,695
North Sumatera:
Medan	16	7	17	40	47	0	9	56	92
Total Refugees	313	141	542	996	737	1	57	795	1,791

* UNHCR, 2015.

UNHCR is also at these camps and adhering to international protocol regarding the treatment and processing of refugees.

Rohingya and Bangladesh Refugee Camp in Bayeun village, Rantau Selamat subdistrict Aceh Timur

This temporary camp was the former site of a paper factory and so is large enough to accommodate all the refugees. It’s estimated that the refigees will be here for about one month. They are currently being assisted by UNHCR, IOM, other small local NGOs and local citizens, and several ministries form Aceh including Disaster Management, Health, and Social Services.

There are 398 refugees in Bayeun camp: 165 males, 46 females and 182 children. 341 are from Myanmar and 52 from Bangladesh.

Refugees based on age:

No	Male (years old)				Female (years old)
	0-4	5-11	12-17	18-60	0-4	5-11	12-17	18-60
	19	20	67	113	18	27	31	46

UNHCR, 2015.

Living Conditions at the camp

Temporary tents have been provided by the Aceh Disaster Management Agency.  The Indonesian government plans to have barracks constructed for long-term living.  Males and females have separate quarters, and children under age 10 stay in the women’s tent. 

Currently there are 4 tents total, with 50 men to a tent.  

 The women and children are housed in the 8 former offices of the paper factory, each approximately 6x6 meters (approximately 20x20 feet), with 12-15 women/children to a room.

Services

Health services are provided by Aceh Timur’s Health Department with the assistance of other NGOs and volunteers who have provided medicines and medical equipment. A health service tent for refugees has been established and provides emergency and mental health care In addition, the health canter also serves refugees with other health issues such TB, fever, cough, rashes, jaundice, etc.

Food and meals are also provided at the camp. There is a small kitchen built and organized by Aceh’s Social service Department. Every day the department cooks 180 kilos of rice as well as vegetables to serve to the entire camp. 

Clean water is provided by the Government’s water company (PDAM) which keeps the water tanks filled.

Assistance for both Myanmar and Bangladesh Refugees

Aid continues flow to the refugees at then Bayeun Camp. The level of concern from communities, the Aceh Government, NGOs and volunteers is still high.

Following is the aid/assistance provided by NGOs and the Aceh Government:

No	Institution/NGO	Type of Assistance provided	Total
1	UNHCR	Identifying refugees
2	IOM	Bathroom Toilet Water tanks Food/meals and cooking facilities	25 units 10 Units 10 Units 1 set
3	Save The Children	Education Psychosocial for children
4	Synergy For Solidarity	Meeting tent Bag for clothes	1 Unit 20 units
5	Gema Rencong (local NGO)	Medicines Support Psychosocial
6	PKPU (Local)	No information
7	Rodja TV	Blankets Mattress Sarong Cap	398 units 398 units
8	MDMC	Psychosocial Support
9	Hisbun Tahren Indonesia	Rice Pail Barracks	3 units
10	ACT(Aksi Cepat Tanggap) (NGO)	Prayer room Water tank Rice Noodles Frying oil	1 Unit 5 Units
11	Al Azhar (school)	Rice Noodle Support Psychosocial
12	Mer-C (NGO)	Medicines
13	Rumah Bintang (NGO)	Psychosocial
14	Yayasan Keluarga Anak Langit (NGO)	toys for children	1 set
15	Qatar Foundation	Sarong  Cap
16	World Human Care	No information
17	Social Department of Aceh Timur	Tent Rice Noodle Fraying oil	3 units
18	Social Service Department	Soup kitchen	1 units
19	Tagana (NGO)	Soup kitchen
20	Disaster Agency of Aceh Timur	Tents	7 units
21	Health Department of Aceh Timur	Health service Soap Tooth paste Tooth brush Medicines
22	Cleaning Department of Aceh Timur	Dustbin	20 Units
23	Communities around Aceh Timur and others	Clothes

NGOs and the Social Services Department provide refugees with items for daily living such as soap, toothpaste/ brush and eating utensils, as well as a mattress, towel, cap, sandals, blankets, and sarongs.

Availability of Needed Inventory

The camp has enough provisions at this point to last one or two months.

Still needed, however, are clothing bags and sarongs.

Permanent shelters also are needed, as well as livelihoods and life skills training for re-integration into a new country.

There currently exist few activities for refugees at the camp.  They occupy their time by praying, keeping the camp clean, and taking care of the children.  They would welcome the opportunity to learn a new skill or trade, especially one that would earn them a small income during their time in the camp. Many are good artisans and skilled farmers. If they are given a small amount of materials they could create and market their products and possibly sell them to community members.

Points made in a discussion with Mr Usman, the Assistant to the Bupati of Aceh Timur

·       President Widodo has approved the housing and care of refugees in Aceh for one year

·       The Aceh Timur authorities are happy to comply with this as long as Jakarta is also supporting the camp, and there is assistance from other NGOs as well

·       Aceh Timur does not currently have plans to build more permanent shelter for the refugee, but welcomes any proposal or assistance from outside organizations or NGOs.

·       The Department of Social Services in Aceh is limited to the provision of assistance and food for three months

·       Currently there are not enough tents for all the refugees and as yet there is no plan as to how to obtain more; officials have spoken to Jakarta about this.

·       Any and all humanitarian aid agencies are welcome to come to Aceh Timur to provide assistance.

·       JMD is also invited to provide life skills and sustainable agriculture training in the space around the camp, which is quite open and large.

Discussion with Ali, a Rohingya Refugee from Myanmar

Robert was able to speak with Ali, who speaks Malay, and who told him that none of the refugees want to return to Myanmar.  When they left Myanmar, it was without a destination in mind, they just jumped in a boat in order to save their own lives, and are very grateful that they landed in Aceh.

Those who could work in Myanmar were usually subsistence farmers, construction laborers, and makers of men’s caps.

Ali and Robert discussed the possibility of developing a training (translated by Ali) that would help some of the men learn some agricultural skills necessary for life in Aceh, such as cocoa cultivation. 

The women, Ali said, are very talented and make very good clothing, especially the s specialty caps worn by the men.  They also expressed interest in helping the fishermen, who saved, them, make or repair fishing nets.

Ali reports that as long as they are able to stay in the camp, they have absolutely no complaints about their treatment.

Health Issues

Mrs. Ika Sukamwati with the Health Department of Aceh Timur reports that there are a few cases of TB at the camp, as well as some rashes and a few broken bones.  If there were a more urgent issue, the individual would be taken to a public hospital in Idi city (the capitol of Aceh Timur). The individuals with TB for example, were taken to that hospital.

The Health department distributes soap and toothpaste biweekly.  

Social Services

Ibu Eva, head of the Women and Children’s Protection Department of Aceh Timur, reports that all the women and children at the camp have been interviewed and data collected on them. This department is keeping close track of the women and children to prevent trafficking and kidnapping.

There is very limited tent space for women and children; the buildings they are currently housed in are not acceptable for the long term. It is hoped that the Social Services Department will provide more tents for them.