A Volunteer Sticks With Aceh

I received a lovely write-up in the New York Times yesterday:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/19/world/asia/19iht-aceh.html?scp=1&sq=aceh&st=cse

A Volunteer Sticks With Aceh By PETER GELLING
Published: January 18, 2010
LAMTUI, INDONESIA — When Muhammad Ali Ar first met Sara Henderson, he was in a state of shock. He had been recently torn from his family by a mighty flood of water and swept kilometers away to a strange, ruined village on Aceh’s western coast.
“I was completely traumatized. Everything was gone. I could only think about where my family was,” he said.
He would later learn that a tsunami, triggered by a 9.1 magnitude earthquake on Dec. 26, 2004, had devastated much of Aceh, Indonesia’s northernmost province, killing about 170,000 people there, including Mr. Ali’s entire family.
“It was too hard to be alone with my thoughts,” Mr. Ali, 47, who had been a deputy village chief before the disaster, said recently outside a newly constructed house in this village. “I felt that I needed to work to keep my mind occupied, but there was no work anymore.”
On the other side of the world, Sara Henderson, now 68, had just celebrated Christmas in New York City with her four children and nine grandchildren.
She had been living in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital, for more than a decade before the tsunami, first as a banker, then as a retiree.
Her unlikely path — from one of the few women in management at the regional New York bank Marine Midland to senior vice president at NatWest in Hong Kong and then Ecoban in Jakarta — would eventually lead her to the remote western coast of Aceh, one of the most devastated areas, and then on to some of the most isolated villages in all of Indonesia, many of them ravaged by a 30-year civil war.
“I never thought I’d be doing anything like this,” she said.
When she returned to Jakarta after Christmas, an Indonesian friend asked her to go to Aceh to see whether she might be able to help. Thinking she would be there for no more than a few days, Ms. Henderson agreed.
“It was not a pretty sight,” she recalled. “When you got down into the more isolated areas, there were tents in the mud, and there were people walking around with these dead eyes. It was heartbreaking.
“But what made me want to help most of all was that they were still walking around. I thought to myself, if I had lost just one child, let alone all my children and all my grandchildren, I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. I couldn’t live. I was amazed at their resiliency. Someone had to help them.”
The same drive that led her to first take a job in Asia so long ago has now turned this Brooklyn-born banker into one of Aceh’s longest-serving aid workers.
“It shows what a nut case I am. I mean, when I first started building houses I had to pay contractors, but there were no banks in Aceh, and there was still the war. I’d have to stuff the equivalent of $30,000 under the driver’s seat, while passing through 32 military checkpoints as we went through GAM country,” she said, using the Indonesian acronym for the separatist rebels.
Another six months would pass before a peace agreement was signed between Jakarta and the rebels, ending almost three decades of civil war and allowing the free movement of aid around the province. During that time, Ms. Henderson would drive 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, or more nearly every day on a broken, sometimes nonexistent road. Sometimes she would board a rickety boat for hours to reach villages where she, and often only she, was working.
“We work in very isolated places. It isn’t sexy,” she said. “But someone has to do it. You can’t write these people off because they live in the wrong area. A lot of the discontent is in those areas.”
Five years later, the organization she founded to help tsunami victims, Building Bridges to the Future Foundation, is one of the few international aid groups still working in the province. With reconstruction largely finished, most of the others have left.
“It is no surprise that Sara is still working in Aceh,” said Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, who headed the central government’s Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency for four years. “She has such a commitment to the Acehnese people, and I know she feels that the work in Aceh is far from finished.”
It was Ms. Henderson who first hired Mr. Ali, giving him the work he needed to distract him from all that he had just lost. Together with an economics lecturer named Muslim Djalil, who took a year and a half leave from his university to help Ms. Henderson, they built 51 houses in the village of Rumpet, using Ms. Henderson’s own money.
Mr. Ali is now remarried, with two children and a new house.
“Sara is like a mother to me,” he said. “I couldn’t be in this situation today without her. And that’s true for a lot of people. I pray every day for her safety.”
Ms. Henderson says she travels to New York several times a year, because if she didn’t her children would “kill her.” But she adds that she often feels bored in New York and yearns to return to Aceh.
“Sometimes I’ll take my children out to dinner, and I’ll start thinking about how much this amount of money could do for the people in Aceh,” she said. “It’s hard for me to be away sometimes.”
So Ms. Henderson and her foundation press on. She has now focused on creating sustainable livelihoods in a province that is suffering from high rates of unemployment. In Lamtui, she has trained villagers to manage a small goat dairy, the first in Aceh.
“All of Sara’s work has been amazing, but I think her work in conflict-affected areas really stands out because she is working in very remote villages, some only accessible via five-hour boat rides, where no other NGO is present,” said Lillianne Fan, donor liaison to Aceh’s provincial government for the United Nations Development Program.
Ms. Henderson also built the province’s first women’s center at the request of Mr. Kuntoro, of the Aceh Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, and has established small schools that teach former separatist combatants reading, writing and other skills in each of the roughly 30 villages where she has worked.
The list goes on. She took over Oxfam’s water purification program when the aid group pulled out of West Aceh in 2006. Last year her foundation helped provide aid to the nearly 200 Muslim Rohingya refugees who landed in East Aceh after fleeing Myanmar.
“When I talk about all this, it feels like it isn’t me, like I am talking about another person,” she said. “I guess because I never thought I could do something like this.
“I am not the same person I was five years ago, and in some ways, I feel that I wish I had gotten into this earlier,” she said. “I mean, my doctor said to me the other day that 70 today is like the 40 of 10 years ago. I feel that 40 is a little old for me. There are days when I feel 20.”

RI [Republic of Indonesia] delays repatriation as Dhaka confims report

--from mid-June articles in the Jakarta Post and the newsletter of Doctors Without Borders

The repatriation of 114 Rohingya refugees, confirmed by Indonesia as Bangladeshis, from Aceh has been delayed as Dhaka continues investigating their exact status, an official said Friday. The Foreign Ministry said the refugees, who were part of nearly 400 Rohingya who arrived by boat in Aceh province earlier this year, have agreed to be repatriated to their home country. Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said an investigation into the nationality of the remaining refugees was still ongoing, though the process may take a while before a definite result could be attained.
for the full article go to http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/06/13/ri-delays-repatriation-dhaka-confirms-report.html


Bangladesh: Rohingya Forced Out of Makeshift Camp With Nowhere to Go
Increasing violence and intimidation in a makeshift camp in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, is forcing the Rohingya to flee once again. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reports on the appalling living conditions and maltreatment refugees are enduring at the hands of local authorities there.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=3675&cat=field-news

A different editorial on this story is available on the BBC News website at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8109135.stm

Photos and Multi-Media Presentation of the Rohingya that Everyone Should See

http://www.gregconstantine.com/multimedia/multimedia_fp.htm

Exiled to Nowhere—the Lives of the Rohingya
--Greg Constantine Photos

This is a wonderful site and I urge everyone to visist it to see another dimension of the history of the Rohingya.

New York Times: Situation Seen as Deteriorating at Aceh Refugee Camp

My friend came through, bless him.

By PETER GELLING
Published: June 5, 2009
JAKARTA — Conditions at a refugee camp holding almost 200 men in Indonesia’s northernmost province of Aceh have deteriorated in recent months, leading to the escape of a known people smuggler and his nephew, according to a nongovernmental organization working there.

A combination of lax security, little funding and poor communication has led to food shortages, violence and an overall atmosphere of fear and distrust among the refugees, who are increasingly nervous about what their future might hold, said Sara Henderson, director of the Building Bridges to the Future Foundation, a small nongovernmental organization.

“It is more critical than ever to ensure timely and appropriate communication to the local authorities and the refugees. But this has not yet happened, and as a result there has been panic and tension in the camp,” Ms. Henderson said. “In addition the security at the camp has not been improved and could be said to have become worse.”

For the full article please go to the Times online at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/world/asia/06iht-indo.html

Priceless

I fear I have offended a higher-up. Oh woe is me whatever shall I do.

We have given this agency time, money and ample opportunity to correctly and adequately address the issues in the Idi camp that they—as receivers of the official funding—should have had in hand from the outset. What do we get? Stalling, obfuscating, and protestations that nothing’s wrong.
I present the latest interchange--in chronological order, so you get the full flavor, but with names changed, because even though we’re reporting public information, I don’t trust anyone these days to not be vindictive. The world of humanitarian assistance is full of, well, humans. Nobody likes to have their flaws exposed.

From: Sara Henderson [mailto:sara@buildingbridgestothefuture.org] Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2009 10:31 AM
Dear P.
B.R. at UNHCR suggested that I contact you about a severe problem that is happening at the refugee camp in Idi. Before IOM came to Idi on a permanent basis, a group of local NGO's was working there that had divided responsibilities for the refugees at the camp. Since the arrival of IOM there has been much confusion and miscommunication. This seems to be due to a lack of any coordination on the ground between the local NGO's and IOM. In spite of this it appeared that IOM had everything under control. Thus we decided that there was no need for us to continue to supply the camp with food, water, cooking oil, kerosene etc. I wrote to S. F. and others telling them of our exiting the camp. However, last week my staff told me that there were very limited food supplies and only 5 days of rice left. I have to say I was surprised.
My staff and FPRM tried (as they had many time in the past) to get in touch with your staff to discuss this urgent matter, as no one was sure if IOM was going to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the camp. Not only were we confused but the local government had also not been informed. Today N finally made contact with your staff and was told that IOM only provides hygiene kits, and also that it had built a fence. IOM has left the camp in a very precarious state, as there is only rice for today and no funding for tomorrow. Luckily, we still have funds left from one of our donors and will step in at this late point and supply the camp with what is needed.
I regret having to write you about this but we need to all communicate better, cooperate better and consult with one another. Unfortunately, at this time I am in New York but my staff in Aceh is handling this matter. They are concerned because we do not have unlimited funding nor do we have funds to go further than the end of this month. We really hope that we can work together on this critical situation.Thanking you in advance for your kind assistance,
Sara

And his response:

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:02 PM, PH wrote:
Hi Sara,

Whatever reports you have from your staff are incorrect. IOM has not left the camp in any manner (much less in a precarious state) and there are no problems with food supplies. IOM has been providing food and cooking supplies as needed since we arrived and will continue to do so in the future. FPRM is regularly providing vegetables, fruit and spices. If FPRM ever needed to stop providing these then IOM will provide the shortfall.

IOM has no communication problems with FPRM, PMI or anybody else there to provide assistance. We are also fully aware of the problems that preceded our being given permission to work in Idi. To link our arrival with confusion and miscommunication is another incorrect statement.

Deplu and the Camat’s office understand IOM’s plan to remain in Idi. On the ground in Idi we have almost daily contact with the Camat and/or his staff.

In short, the situation is not as described by your staff.

Regards
P

So I sent P’s note to my staff and received this:

From: D
Subject: Re: Food in Idi
To: Sara Henderson
Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 1:16 PM
I'm sorry, Sara, I think I have said it incorrectly. It wasn’t that IOM refused to buy the rice because they had already supplied hygiene kits and fences to the camp. They have actually contributed quite lot. However, they did not coordinate their contributions with any existing local organizations or village members that have been working in the camp long before IOM came in. This caused doubling items in the warehouse, and almost all of it now has to be discarded. So now, the rice is truly running out. We should ask IOM if they want to supply rice to the camp.
It is also true that this lack of coordination and not working with other groups has offended the local community, and also those who had been supplying food to the refugees in the past. The person that IOM assigned to the camp is very low level, and inappropriate as a representative of IOM in terms of talking to about issues or needs or getting any response.
We know that IOM is authorized by the Indonesian Government (under Deplu) to provide humanitarian assistance at the camp. But they really need to sit down and begin to initiate open communication and coordination--not only with the Camat, PMI and local authorities, but also with local organizations and groups that have been supplying the camp. IOM might not have communication or coordination problems with the Camat, but they do have problems with local organizations and community groups.

So this is IOM’s way of responding to an immediate need in an appropriate and culturally sensitive manner. That only tangentially results in escapes, tension, confusion, and continual lack of supplies.
I know I’ll sleep better tonight knowing I’ve been put in my place by a higher-up. I guess there’s nothing to worry about, then . . .

Update from the Idi Refugee Camp

Well, things have gone from bad to worse in the refugee camp in Idi, I’m afraid. Despite the best efforts of my dear staff to make sure that the refugees were getting as many basic needs met as we could address, and despite pleas from colleagues here in the US and in Indonesia, it seems that once again, a very large and well-respected humanitarian aid agency has proven itself to be anything but. I’m referring to IOM, the International Order of Migrations, and I’ve been biting my hand to keep from screaming about them in the past, but their inability to get out of their own way has reached crisis proportions and I’m done just sitting back and letting my small but dedicated staff and the residents of Aceh Timur shoulder all the burden of keeping these 200 Rohingya safe and fed and advised (clearly and in their own language) of their future here.

So I’m going to post a bit of correspondence between my staff in Aceh who have been at the camps recently, between me and a colleague who has been a humanitarian aid/governance consultant in SE Asia for years, and a kind reporter from the New York Times, who bent over backwards to cover what it could of this story, which admittedly has fallen to “page 6” due to all the other horrors our world is experiencing right now. But despite all the other font page news, there are still 200 men on a beach at the tip of Sumatra that the largest, most well-funded agencies in the world cannot seem to figure out how to help.

That frightens me.

Dear P:
We hope that all is well with you. L. and I are in New York right now but have been apprised of a severe problem that is happening in Idi Rayeuk with the camp and the local community. We feel that if this is happening in Idi Rayeuk it could be happening in Sabang as well. Following is a field report from our staff who go to Idi every week. Our concerns are as follows:
1. REFUGEES DON’T KNOW THEIR FATE: There is lack of communication with the refugees regarding their ‘status determination process’ and we have tried to convey this to UNHCR, IOM and the US Embassy. While they seem to understand our concerns, it has not changed the situation on the ground. Presumptively, UNHCR and IOM are waiting for Deplu [the Indonesian foreign ministry] to take the lead on communication with the refugees. But this has not happened either.
2. REFUGEES ARE NEAR PANIC: As a result of this communication vacuum, the refugees have now heard about it through the newspapers and are in a state of panic and confusion. The local government has also not been informed officially and has also only read reports in the newspaper.
3. ILL-INFORMED REFUGEES MAY CAUSE LOCAL DAMAGE: The situation has lead to what could be a very bad security issue. Already some refugees have tried to escape again. The more panic that is generated the more likely it is that these men in desperation may attempt a massive escape or some kind of action that will lead to violence. This will spill over into the local community where there is already tension concerning the land that the camp is on. There have been a few violent incidents already in the camp but few are reported to the police. As there is little to no security at the camp how can anyone be assured that the local community is not in danger, particularly when there is so much fear and tension among the refugees?
4. INDONESIA MAY LOSE ALL THE GROND IT HAS GAINED: It seems to be such a shame that for lack of a few words all the good will that Indonesia has generated worldwide with their humane treatment of these refugees could ultimately be perceived as a missed opportunity for Indonesian leadership. Instead it will likely all end in a messy tragedy. As you are well aware, there a group of 55 Sri Lankan boat people who arrived several weeks ago and are now in detention in Meulaboh, Aceh Barat. There has also been an increase of Afghan refugees coming into Indonesia. It is critical that the handling of all refugees by all who are in contact with them (ie, UNHCR, IOM, the government, INGO's) follow international standards and principles not just at a policy level but also at an operational level. Any help you can give us to bring this matter to the attention of the national and international public and government will be so appreciated. Please let us know if there is any possibly of you making inquiries at the Foreign Ministry on this brewing tragedy waiting to happen. We will be glad to provide you direct access to our staff on-site and to local leaders.

Best Regards, Sara

**************************************
So . . . Where’d I get this information? Many sources, including staff eyewitness accounts. Read on:

Dear Sara:
I went to the camp this afternoon after visiting three villages in Aceh Timur. The refugees are now panicked when they read in the newspaper that 114 Bangladeshi would be sent home to Bangladesh soon. The refugees thought all of them would be sent home to their home countries, not just Bangladeshi who want to go home-- Myanmarese Rohingyans and some other Bangladeshis would be sent to Batam. The refugees misunderstood what the newspaper said, and some of them tried to escape from the camp again.

Someone from UNHCR, IOM, or Deplu must come to the camp and communicate clearly to the refugees about their status and the plan of sending some of them back. No one from UNHCR, IOM or Deplu has communicated to them what is going on. Their Bahasa is so limited, that they misunderstand what is in the paper ad what is being told to them. The camp is also running out of rice. We need to supply the camp with rice, since no one else has come to donate to the camp other than FPRM with fish and vegetables (with our funding support). The camp needs 120kg rice a day for the refugees, the cost for rice per day is IDR 850 thousand, and the total for a month would be IDR 26 million. Our funding would be enough to supply rice, vegetables, fish, and water to the camp only for 6 more weeks. We still don't know how long these refugees are going to stay at the camp. UNHCR, IOM and Deplu planned to move them to another place or send them back home, but they wouldn't announce how long these refugees will be staying in Idi Rayeuk.
--D

That, my friends, is how large agencies treat small tragedies.

When IOM came charging in about 3 months ago to “save” the refugees from God knows what fate, pretty literally saying “Out of our way, we’ll handle this--” they did not communicate, cooperate or consult with anyone—the locals, the other tiny agencies already involved, anyone. So alienated and uninformed were the other players that everyone just stop doing what they were doing and left it all to IOM, who was receiving money ( that none of us had) from PRM etc. The local fishermen had been giving free fish since the beginning. Can you believe it? These poor people donated fish almost every day from their catch. They were never informed of anything and then IOM starting buying fish for the camp from outside sources, insulting the local community (and being pretty stupid about spending money they didn’t need to). Now we are informed by D and N that they are running out of rice and also need veggies and fish. We try and try to contact IOM to find out what is going on but to no avail so we are back supplying the camp with food, again. Meanwhile IOM wastes no time taking credit for “managing” the camp and “caring” for the refugees, and doesn’t even have the decency to communicate with us, or the refugees themselves!

All I can say is, thank goodness we were frugal and didn’t spend all our money at the outset, so we can contribute to the food needs of the refugees again.

Another example of David bailing out Goliath . . .

Rohingya Migrants to be Relocated to Pulau Galang – Rakyat Aceh

--from Serambi Indonesia, Thursday May 21, 2009

Banda Aceh - The Central Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Deplu), will temporarily relocate the Rohingya migrants to Pulau Galang in Kepulauan Riau. “Deplu has three options, namely: deporting them, uniting the migrants in Idi, Aceh Timur with those who are in Sabang or finding a third country wanting to accept them,” said the Head of Kesbangpol and Linmas, Djakfar Djuned, M. Si, on Wednesday (20/05). Djakfar said it is difficult to return those immigrants to Myanmar because the Myanmarese government has not confirmed whether they will accept them or not, meanwhile, the immigrants do not want to return to their home country due to safety reasons. Therefore, the government will likely relocate them to Pulau Galang, Kepulauan Riau. In the 1970s, the central government made this island a temporary relocation site for thousands of Vietnamese boatpeople.

Copy of an email I sent to my JMD/BBF associates yesterday . . .

. . . that I'm angry enough to post here.

Dear All:
D called me this morning and I asked her to prepare a written report on what she told me which is below. I also talked to her about what our next steps should be and they are also listed on the report. I cannot tell you how angry and betrayed I feel by this. People have just sat back and watched us work like dogs and knew we never had to do all that. The local leader has been stealing since day one and no one cared. We have said it over and over. We have begged everyone for help, even IOM, who said they did not have the money and in the meantime they are making a mess of the camp. Where were they when we started ???? Anyway, enough bitching and complaining. Here is where we are now. We are further back than we were before. We have a camp that is not being run at all. There has been a lot of stealing and we cannot stop it since we have no authority. Now we are in a position where everyone who worked on the camp from the locals to the few Internationals have all pulled their support out. Now, if IOM doesn't keep its support up we have no fish. We have no drinking water, we have nothing since the people handling it all are insulted, as well they should be. But now who is going to buy all this? IOM??? WE NOW HAVE A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM ON OUR HANDS.

D and I discussed what we wanted to do. I guess we could try to rebuild the relationships we had going and get things back to normal but I am not sure we want to do that since as we had no authority we were not given any respect. We also do not have the contacts to get in touch with people at IOM, UNHCR etc and complain. And even if we did complaining it would do us no good. I’m waiting to see what Dina has to say after her meetings, then we can decide if we want to just pull up stakes and leave or if we want to make a go of it. If IOM had so much money why weren't they building latrines and barracks???? I am too angry to go on. PLEASE READ D'S REPORT (BELOW) AND FEEL FREE TO COMMENT.

Sara:
N told me the following on the first night I met him, it will be more tomorrow, I believe, when I'm meeting Assistant I, seeing the camp, and calling up people (IOM, JRS, and HELP).
· IOM had been in the camp for the last 1,5 months or so since they came the first time to undertake the first stage of the verification mandate.
· They had been supplying the camp with many things; hygiene kits, fresh fish, canned food, etc without asking the camp for any donation report.
· So, IOM basically was supplying same things that other NGOs had done for the camp. There double supplies in the camp.
· FPRM, with the funds transferred from us, supplied water (for drinking and cooking) to the camp every day. Suddenly, IOM started supplying water for drinking last week. So, N decided only to supply water for cooking then, instead of doubling everything.
· It seems that IOM gave money to the camp for paying the drinking water. Today, they just found out that the camp had been cheating them. The camp reported they paid for 7 trucks of drinking water every day, while there were only 4 trucks delivered to the camp. The same thing with rice, IOM gave money to buy 10 sacks of rice (you know they have plenty of rice), but there are only 6 sacks delivered to the refugees. Save the children supplied 400 packs of hygiene kits to the camp before UNHCR team arrived, and suddenly IOM delivered toothpaste and soaps to the camp on the same week.
· There's a group of fishermen in Idi, headed by 'Panglima Laot' - the commander, who collected fish from every boat that came back from the sea, and delivered fresh fish to the camp every day either for breakfast, lunch or dinner. N didn't supply fresh fish, he only delivered salted fish to the camp which is fine. That's why N didn't spend so much on fish for the refugees, other than fresh fish, they still have canned sardines in the warehouse
· IOM also supplied fresh fish to the camp without checking if anyone from the village had done so. The group who had been supplying fish to the camp since day 1, was very offended and decided to stop supplying fresh fish, since they believed IOM took that over.
· Now, IOM realized they had been fooled by the camp, and R (the person in charge in the camp) went back to Banda to report about this to his office. N said it seems they're not going to stop supplying the camp after this incident. It is horrible for us to clean the mess they made.
· According to what N said, it sounded like IOM was trying to work with FPRM in the camp, but N refused because IOM has ignored their suggestions since the beginning. IOM will keep one staff placed in the camp--I don't know what for.
· N had tried applying the inventory system in the camp. He has put locks on the warehouse, and record keeping, so anyone taking out supplies from the warehouse needed to sign, and be checked by the refugee representative. But the records between the logistic person, the kitchen coordinator, and the refugee representative on the inventory supplies were never balanced. The lock had been damaged intentionally a couple of times, and things were missing from the warehouse.
· JRS tried to come and offered to work together with FPRM on the camp, but N refused to do it. I'm glad that N never said no to work with us on the refugee camp like he has done to JRS and IOM.
· Other than IOM and this fishermen’s group, no one delivers donations to the camp anymore. They still have plenty of rice, and canned sardines, but the instant noodles are spoiled already.
· Camat now has no idea how to take care of these refugees since he has run out of money (which I believe been donated to the camp, but never recorded and reported properly). He actually contacted me on Sunday but he didn't ask for anything, just asking when I'm coming down to Idi.
· IOM had donated a refrigerator to the camp to store fresh fish, so I'm not going to buy a refrigerator.

Therefore, my plan is:
· I'm going to meet with assistant I first, check with him about what he knows about the camp situation. I will ask him again to ask the camat to make an accountable report.
· I'll call R, the IOM guy in charge in the camp for the last two months. Getting information on donations IOM had delivered to the camp, and asking them if they want to continue. They should work with us.
· I'll call L from JRS to find out the status of their plan to help the refugees, and how we can actually work together on this.
· I'll go to the camp and see how it's going on there. If the Camat asks me for any money, I'll pretend the money we received had been returned a month ago. We can ask for other NGOs to donate in-kind to the camp, but only if a proper report is available. You may not agree with this strategy, but we're not giving any money to the camp or deliver any fresh food directly without confirming with N, or else FPRM will not work for us anymore.

Rohingya Update

Progress Made on Rohingya Refugees – Jakarta Globe 1 May 09

The verification team sent to determine the fate of 193 Burmese Rohingyas sheltered in Sabang, Aceh Province, finished the first phase of the verification process on Friday, Foreign Affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said. The limited availability of translators, however, could mean that the processing of the 198 remaining asylum seekers in Idi Rayeuk, East Aceh, might be stalled. The verification team, consisting of officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Organization for Migration and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, finished their work in Sabang on April 24 after beginning in early April. The asylum seekers were asked a series of standard UNHCR questions to determine whether they were economic migrants or genuine refugees. “The team has identified the pattern and have the numbers figured out,” Faizasyah said, although he could not disclose details until they were given proper access to consular services. “Some of them have expressed their willingness for voluntary repatriation and we will refer their names to their respective embassies, which could then conduct further verification.” Faizasyah said that the ad hoc working groups set up as a result of the Bali Process forum, which was co-chaired by Indonesia and Australia in April, to address the plight of the Rohingyas, have not yet set a date for a meeting. The formation of these ad hoc groups to help identify the root causes behind people smuggling and human trafficking in the region was announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda and his Australian counterpart, Stephen Smith, at the Bali Process forum with refugee source, transit and destination countries present. “Their presence made them morally bound to the statement,” Faizasyah said, adding that it was just as matter of setting out the terms of references before the ad hoc groups could meet. He said the meetings would take place as soon as possible because “this is an urgent matter.” Ismira Lutfia.


Indonesia repatriates Rohingya refugees – Xinhua 1 May 09

Indonesia repatriated Rohingya refugees to their origin country after settling the verification program on refugees sheltered in Aceh province's Sabang, an official said here on Friday. The Indonesian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that the voluntarily repatriation program is assisted by the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). "The voluntarily repatriation is underway at the moment. We have contacted officials of recipient countries regarding this issue," he told a press conference. He added that refugees who wished to take part in the repatriation program were those who sheltered in Sabang. He said that verification on the remaining Rohingya refugees sheltered in Idi Rayeuk was underway at the moment. Indonesia provided shelters for 391 Rohingya refugees in Sabangand Idi Rayeuk in the northernmost province of Aceh. The refugees were found drifting over the sea off Aceh waters by Indonesian patrol boats in January and February this year. Rohingya people live in Myanmar, near Bangladesh border area. The Muslim ethnic group has been considered as illegal settlers by Myanmar government. www.xinhua.net

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.

At Last! An Article in the New York Times!

Thanks to my colleagues and friends whov'e been getting the word out, and the reporter from the Times, the Rohingya in Aceh--and our involvement there--are finally getting some good coverage .

April 17, New York Times
Boat people from Myanmar face an uncertain future in Indonesia camps ­
--by Peter Gelling
The only solace for the almost 200 men living in a squalid refugee camphere is the freedom they now have to pray.“In Myanmar, if we pray we are killed,” said Alam Shah, 38, a member of the Rohingya Muslim minority who fled predominantly Buddhist Myanmar last year. “I’m scared they will send us back there. It is a very, very dangerous country.”The Rohingya here were found floating at sea Feb. 2 after three weeks aboard a small wooden boat with no motor, no food and no water. When they were found by an Indonesian fisherman off the coast of Aceh, Indonesia’s northernmost province, many were close to death. A few months before, another boat loaded with about 200 Rohingya refugees landed in Sabang, on the northern tip of Aceh, where they are now being held at a Navy station. Several more boats were found by the Indian coast guard carrying almost 400 Rohingya.
Research by nongovernment organizations suggests that all the refugees had passed through detention camps on islands just off the coast of Thailand. According to interviews with the refugees, the Thai military towed and abandoned at least six boats at sea between November and January, when the international media picked up the story and the so-called “push-backs”were halted.The expulsions reversed a policy in which Thailand had allowed thousands of Rohingya to land in recent years, mostly on their way to seek work in Malaysia. The Thai military had denied accusations of pushing the refugees out to sea but Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand said in February that some boats had been towed out to sea and that he intended to investigate. About 1,200 men are known to have been pushed out to sea, more than 300 of whom drowned, according to the Arakan Project, a private human rights group. There are fears, however, that many more Rohingya from Bangladesh and Myanmar were originally abandoned by the Thais and are still missing. “It is difficult to say what the exact numbers are. But based on the interviews we have done with refugees that have ended up in India and Indonesia, we think there were many more push backs than have been confirmed,” said Chris Lewa, an expert on Rohingya issues who heads the Arakan Project. Researchers for the Arakan Project have managed to interview refugees from five of the six boats rescued. “What does seem clear, what is consistent among all the interviews we have done with the refugees, is that they were detained on islands off the coast of Thailand before being towed out to sea and set adrift by the Thai military,” she said. This week, after months of delays, the United Nations has begun the process of “status determination” for the 391 men being held in Idi Rayeukand Sabang. The process, a series of interviews with individual refugees,will determine if they are in need of protection and can stay in Indonesia, or if they are economic migrants who should be returned to Myanmar. At the same time, on the resort island of Bali, leaders from around Southeast Asia, including from Myanmar, are beginning discussions about regional migrants, which will include discussions on the plight of theRohingya. Indonesia, which analysts have praised for taking a leadership role with issues like human rights, disaster reconstruction and other issues involving Myanmar, fears a flood of thousands of Rohingya to its shores if the men in Aceh are allowed to stay. The United Nations estimates that about 723,000 Rohingya live in Myanmar, where the military regime considers them foreigners and denies them citizenship, passports or the right to own land. There are also hundreds of thousands of Rohingya living in Bangladesh. The Rohingya in Myanmar live mostly in the northern Rahkine State and inthe past fled through bordering Bangladesh and into the Middle East. But new travel restrictions imposed by the Bangladesh government have forced the Rohingya to find alternative destinations like Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. The Rohingya of Myanmar are one of the most vulnerable minorities in a severely impoverished country.“Indonesia is trying to play a leadership role in this situation,” said Lilianne Fan, a humanitarian worker who has worked in Aceh and Myanmar and is now advising the Acehnese governor. “Compared to other regional governments, the Indonesians have respondedv ery well, especially since they have engaged international organizations,” she said.The whole process of status determination and the subsequent negotiations that will need to take place between Myanmar and Indonesia could take many more months. Meanwhile, the few aid organizations working in Idi Rayeuk are concerned that the camp is not equipped to house the refugees for that long.The men were greeted generously by the local Acehnese, many of whom live in abject poverty themselves but can relate to the Rohingya’s situation. Many Acehnese here have family members who were forced to flee a separatist conflict that raged in Aceh for 30 years until a peace agreement was reached in 2005. Idi Rayeuk, in fact, was once a central launching point for Acehnese trying to flee the country. “The support has been unreal and an inspiration for the rest of the world,” said Sara Henderson, president of the Building Bridges to theFuture Foundation, one of the only international nongovernment organizations working with the Rohingya refugees in Aceh. “They are still giving free fish to the camp when they have barely enough to eat themselves.” But the generosity of the local Acehnese and the local government is nowhere near enough, Ms. Henderson said. The men still live in tents and are forced to walk around wet, muddy ground. Sanitation, food and water remain basic and security is almost non-existent. Seven men, in fact, fled the camp early Monday morning but were all later apprehended by theIndonesian military.“The ones who tried to escape said that they were frightened they were going to be deported,” said Ms. Henderson. “We have many times verbally and in writing brought up the lack of security, but it has gotten usnowhere.” Ms. Fan added that the Rohingya here were in danger of “falling through the cracks” and that a lack of interpreters has created an atmosphere of confusion and fear that probably led the seven men to try and escape.The Building Bridges to the Future Foundation, which was founded in response to the 2005 tsunami in Aceh, has been pressing for donations to help coordinate the camp and provide necessary logistics. The local government has offered to provide a larger plot of land if money can be raised for necessities like temporary barracks, sanitation and food.“The local community and the government do not have the funds to support a refugee camp of 198 men,” Ms. Henderson said.

$2 a day to save a refugee’s life . . . and there are no takers. Where are you now, Angelina?

Like I said, I’m writing an article. For the New Yorker, maybe. Or Oprah’s magazine. I don’t know. I’ve talked to my friends and staff about it, and I’m thinking it’s really the only way to frame what I realize now is a huge discussion about an insurmountable world problem, that our poor tiny NGO stumbled into and wondered why we can’t just, oh, I don’t know, kiss it and make it better. And what everyone else apparently hopes they can ignore long enough for it to go away.
So there are 198 Rohingya refugees in the district of East Aceh (Aceh Timur) and another 193 on Sabang Island, being fed (for the time being) and wondered about by the Indonesian Navy. That’s 381 people that Aceh received as a result of the January 2009 wave of escapes from either Myanmar (Burma) or Bangladesh; many of the estimated 2,000 Rohingya and Bangladeshi who began the journey died at sea, some went to Thailand but were unceremoniously ejected, some got to remain in Thailand. A friend recently asked me, “What is so special about these people that you are trying to help them?” Meaning, I suppose, that JMD’s target citizens are the poorest, hardest-to-access, most at-risk in all Aceh (and that’s saying a lot), so why drop everything for this group? The only thing I can come up with is: because they’re human, and they’re starving, they’re homeless, and they have no one. But it got me thinking, surely there are not just 398 people in the world who have no country, no citizenship, have been persecuted and evicted for hundreds of years, and end up corralled in a camp on foreign soil with no way to communicate, no way to work or feed their families, looking different, believing different, exhausted from the last escape? Only 398?
Well, a) I guess that’s pretty good, and b) why then is it like pulling teeth to get the UN and big international aid agencies/donors interested?
I mean . . . right before I left Aceh in March I drew up a needs and cost list with our staff and came up with a figure of $70,000 to house, feed, and provide medical and education services to the refugees for the next 6 months. That’s (wait for it) $2.03 per person per day for ALL their needs. Chump change for any government, right?
Economy of scale, I was told by a higher-up.
There are too few starving, frightened, persecuted individuals to justify the paperwork.
Isn’t that nice.
But! I was told, fear not: the UN High Commission for Refugees and the International Order of Migrations will be conducting “refugee verification” for a month in the camp starting next week. Which is an interrogation process designed to determine your “status.”
To sum up the process, you will be categorized as one of the following:
--Rohingya from Myanmar , starving
--Rohingya form Bangladesh, starving
--Bangladeshi from Myanmar, starving
--Rohingya from Thai internment, starving and beaten.
Then presumably the interviewer gives you a piece of paper telling you what they decided you are . . . and you take a bite out of it.
Funny thing. Still starving.
And for those lucky Rohingya who are determined to have actually come from Myanmar (though they aren’t considered “citizens” because the Rohingya are everyone’s favorite piece of inhuman garbage in southeast Asia) you get to go back to the bosom of your step-motherland . . . IF you admit you’re NOT Rohingya after all but Bangladeshi!
Is anyone else besides me made physically sick by this?
I went back to my original question . . . why was it that I was so interested in these 198 people? I’d met some of them last month in the temporary camp where our staff was helping by donating food, water, etc. and they are every bit as needy and desperate as the Acehnese JMD serves every day. I just kept thinking . . . why is this tiny $70,000 problem so untouchable?
Then the rational me took over.
Get real, she said. (I call her Sheila. She’s very well dressed, perfect hair and makeup, and she sits across the table from me sometimes, when I’m bleary-eyed in a ratty robe, staring blankly into a coffee cup, and she berates me for my foolishness. I loathe her most of the time, But she’s always right.) She asks pointedly, Do you really think that 398 Rohingya refugees, or even all Rohingya refugees, or even all Rohingya for that matter, represent all people who wind up in already impoverished or war-torn places, worse off than the already decimated host country’s population, unable to prove their citizenship or political/social/economic persecution, asking to just have a place to live and breathe?
And I realized, it’s not economy of scale after all—it’s the exact opposite. What do we as nations do about people with no country? How do we hold each other accountable, do the right thing, and in the meantime feed the kids, teach the dads how to communicate with us, protect the moms from being sold into slavery?
What the big organizations have been trying to tell me and the few small agencies in East Aceh building latrines and cooking diner and keeping TB out of the camp, is that if they provide direct assistance to 198 people, they will have to think about the millions more, all over the globe, that can then no longer be comfortably forgotten.
So in my mind I sent my eye around the world . . . just to remember a little bit of what I’d heard and read over the years—me, who’s been focused on Aceh for so long . . . so much suffering—I guess we all just take as much as we can stand, and try to forget the rest. So I had to remember what I’d been forgetting. Eastern Europe. The Roma, Ashkali, Gorani . . . still in camps maybe? Still treated as non-citizens by both Serbia and Kosovo, and maybe even Romania? And what of Africa? All the tribes and nations there. Darfur. Displaced by conflict. Where are they? How many camps are they in? The Congo. My god, how do you start looking for groups there? South America. Indigenous communities shoved off land newly discovered to have key mineral deposits. Afghanistan. Who takes care of the farmers in areas where the Taliban now control the opium trade? I wanted to find people who have no country, So if, for example, I learn of the nearly 30 million people in India who last year the government admitted were unaccounted for after the earthquake, I have to take them off my list, because as awful as their situation is, they still are considered citizens. Same as some nations of Native Americans in western US—I don’t think the Oglala Sioux are living any higher off the hog than they were when the FBI raided them in 1973 and falsely convicted Leonard Peltier of murdering an agent. But they’re US citizens, so they don’t go on my list.
So many lists, when you think about it.
So much atonement.
Maybe this is why all this gets me. I’ve been a banker all my life. I believe in accountability. The karmic bottom line, where the balance sheet is hopefully zero, ideally in the black, but never, never owing.
And we owe so much. How will it ever get repaid? And who or what are we repaying?
I don’t run around trying to madly balance all injustices, if that’s what you’re thinking.
I would, however, like to see justice. I would not have to frantically always look to see where it’s hiding in places like East Aceh. Atonement is a bottomless well, and justice is a big dark pit. Martin Luther King said, "The arc of history is long . . . but it bends towards justice.” I work with that in mind, but as a human I would like to create some small measure of comfort in the lives of people like these 198 Rohingya, who let’s face it will never see justice. They may see food, and a permanent home, and a reunion with their families, maybe—but they won’t see justice. They are too few, and too many, at the same time.
There are, I found, several websites and publications dealing with stateless people, as they are called, and the solutions offered that would help them obtain a quality of life that most now lack. But what I found was so vast, and the problem is so insidious . . . Refugees International, for example, has published Nationality for All: A Progress Report and Global Survey on Statelessness that is a must-read for anyone interested in knowing the magnitude of this issue.
At the risk of quoting too much from their 68-page report, going to just share their introduction with you (the emphases are mine):

Nationality is a fundamental human right and a foundation of identity, dignity, justice, peace,
and security. But statelessness, or the lack of effective nationality, affects millions of men,
women, and children worldwide. Being stateless means having no legal protection or right to
participate in political processes, inadequate access to health care and education, poor employment
prospects and poverty, little opportunity to own property, travel restrictions, social exclusion,
vulnerability to trafficking, harassment, and violence.

Stateless people are found in all regions of the world. Among the most vulnerable groups are
Rohingya in Burma and throughout Asia, Bidun in the Middle East, Roma in Europe, children
of Haitian migrants in the Caribbean, individuals from the former Soviet bloc, denationalized
Kurds, some Palestinians, and certain groups in Thailand. Their situations of legal limbo result
from many factors such as political change, expulsion of people from a territory, discrimination,
nationality based solely on descent, and laws regulating marriage and birth registration.

Because states have the sovereign right to determine the procedures and conditions for
acquisition and loss of citizenship, statelessness and disputed nationality must ultimately be
resolved by governments. But state determinations on citizenship must conform to general
principles of international law. Numerous international instruments, including the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, affirm nationality rights. Two UN conventions on statelessness
have long existed, but they are not widely ratified. To date, 63 countries have become party to
the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, and 35 countries have acceded
to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

Millions. That’s what it says. No wonder just 198 don’t have a chance.
When the 2004 tsunami and earthquake hit Aceh, it precipitated a 2005 peace agreement between the Indonesian government and opposition forces in Aceh. The effects of the tsunami grew to encompass, and almost become indistinguishable from, the effects of the former conflict: people left homeless, with 80% of the family dead, livelihoods wiped out, survivors being tempted into activities such as drug smuggling illegal logging, membership in tiny roving militia groups—anything to get something to eat. The international community showered an enormous amount of money at the more obvious needs—mostly housing and infrastructure in the larger cities. But after that: show’s over. On to the next attractive disaster. Which I believe was Katrina and New Orleans. How many people are still volunteering down there? Not many, I suspect. The thrill of being in the epicenter of history is over; the banality of true altruism does not appeal to most. My agency JMD looked around Aceh and went to areas where nobody wanted to go, and found that the conflict victims (such as those in east Aceh) suffered just as much as those hardest hit by the tsunami . . . but they were in tiny villages, on impassable and thug-controlled roads, suspicious and wandering . . . economy of scale—remember? Best forget em.
Tiny bits of suffering, suffering in small groups, does not make governments feel good enough to open the books. Even when the Rohingya briefly became the It-Refugee of 2009 after Angelina Jolie’s visit to Thailand, no one stepped up to the plate with donations, not even Ms Jolie, who to her credit has made donations . . . just not to the Rohingya. How about it, Angelina? It’s only $70,000.
Get a grip, Sara.
That’s Sheila talking. She’s doubtful that Oprah or the New Yorker will be tolerant of the tone this is taking.
I’m off to Washington anyway to meet with some donors about this and maybe we will get somewhere by the end of the week. (Actually I am probably already there as of the date of this being posted.)
Go to UNHCR’s website and make a donation. And write to Angelina and tell her to do the same. I’ll keep you posted on my meetings in D.C.

As the Bali Process looms . . . the Rohingya gain a small (but important) measure of press

This week I've been writing an article concerning my experiences in Aceh with the “Rohingya Issue,” as they seem to be calling it for the April 14 Bali Process. I'm going to publish the article here first, but while I am editing it for excessive venom and name-calling (which, while making me feel better, doesn’t forge any lasting positive relationships—darn it all) I would like to reprint the following two pertinent pieces, that I think are good complements, in that the first is the journalist version and the second is the activist version of the current attention paid to this group of stateless people, 198 of whom we've been trying to help in East Aceh. It appears there’s activity afoot regarding these refugees, but there are so many little political, social and economic threads to this web it’ll be a miracle if political correctness doesn’t render us paralyzed to exercise any kind of compassion at all.

From the Jakarta Post (and edited for brevity):
RI [Republic of Indonesia], Myanmar discuss democracy, refugees –17 Mar 09
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met with visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Gen. Thein Sein here Monday to discuss the contentious issues of the Rohingya boatpeople and democracy in the junta-ruled country. Yudhoyono emphasized the need for a “practical solution” to resolve the Rohingya problem, and urged Myanmar to prove to the world that its “road map to democracy” could work by holding “fair” and “inclusive” general elections planned for next year. “Prime Minister Thein Sein said the Myanmar government is paying close attention to the [Rohingya] issue. Basically it says it will accept back the Rohingya people as long as they can prove they are indeed from Myanmar,” [emphasis added] Indonesian presidential spokesman Dino Patti Djalal told the press after the meeting of the two leaders at the State Palace in Jakarta. He added some of the refugees may have come from Bangladesh.
Dino said both leaders had basically agreed the Rohingya issue needed to be resolved through the Bali Process, a regional mechanism aimed at combating people smuggling, trafficking and related transnational crimes, which was agreed upon by ASEAN leaders during the recent ASEAN Summit. Myanmar, however, wanted the Bali Process not to focus on the Rohingya refugee issue. Dino added Indonesia would extend the interim phase of humanitarian assistance for 400 Rohingya boatpeople stranded in Aceh province until a final solution to the problem was found. The refugees, believed to have come from Myanmar, were heading to Thailand before being stranded in Indonesia’s westernmost province. “The Indonesian government will establish bilateral cooperation with the Myanmar government, and will involve the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration to solve the problem,” Dino said. The two leaders also discussed the touchy issue of democracy in Myanmar. . . .[and] a range of other issues, including regional and international matters. . . . It is Thein Sein’s first visit to Indonesia since he assumed his present post in October 2007. This would be the time for Myanmar to prove to the world it would complete its seven-step road map to democracy. Erwida Maulia.

*****
And from the most recent post on the blog of the Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) http://merhrom.wordpress.com
(edited for brevity, but the blog is a MUST READ for anyone interested in the history of the Rohingya)

10 April 2009
URGENT APPEAL TO THE ASEAN AND WORLD LEADERS TO SAVE ROHINGYAS
Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM) is deeply concerned over the increase of the human rights abuses against Rohingyas in Arakan State of Burma in recent months. The situation of Rohingyas in Arakan State became worst after the International media highlighted Rohingya Boat People plight since December 2008.
The military regime continued to subject Rohingya and Muslims in Arakan State to harassment, arbitrary arrest, extortion, and religious persecution. In the current development, a Rohingya girl, identified as Hamida (16) was killed and hacked into three pieces by monks in Sittwe (Akyab), the capital of Arakan State on March 28, 2009.
. . . . The Rohingya villagers did not dare to file a case in the police station against the monks for fear of retaliation from the Rakhine community. . . . In the same month, it was reported that at least 10 houses belonging to Rohingyas were set fire and burnt into ashes by Rakhine mobs around Sindi Prang village of Buthidaung Township at night time. No action was taken against any culprits by the military regime. Further to this, the military regime has deployed hundreds of thousands of military forces into Arakan State which lead to excessive human rights abuses against Rohingyas.
. . . .MERHROM is deeply concerned over the way ASEAN countries have been handling the Rohingyas issue. There were suggestions from some ASEAN countries including Malaysia and Thailand to send Rohingyas back to Burma. This would only make our situation worst as we know exactly how we will be treated by the military regime once we are forcefully deported. This is a matter of life and death. The ASEAN countries cannot take peoples’ life for granted what more when the ASEAN have its own charter now that gives priority to its peoples.
We applaud the statement by the Singapore government that they will assist Rohingya refugees by providing humanitarian assistance so that they can depart for a third country. . . . We appeal to the Malaysian government . . . to make sure that the Rohingyas in exile will not be sent back forcefully to the place where they would face persecution and prosecution. Although most ASEAN countries did not sign Refugee Convention 1951 and its 1967 Protocol, the ASEAN countries are binding to the Non-Refoulement principle.
. . . [R]eturning Rohingyas to Burma seems to be the main agenda of the ASEAN Leaders. This cannot happen as there will be repercussion on Rohingyas. The military regime had announced clearly that Rohingyas are not the citizen of Burma. They further stated that the Rohingyas are dark skinned and “as ugly as ogres.” This is disgrace to the human being as we are the creation of Almighty GOD. The military regime stated that they will only accept Rohingyas if they admit that they are Bengali and their status are still non citizen. This cannot happen as the Rohingyas are not Bengali. Rohingyas has its own language and culture which is different from Bengali.
. . . .According to Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim, a total of 144 Rohingyas in Malaysia were sent to other countries between 2003-2008. This show the lack of commitment and political will of UNHCR and third countries. Resettlement countries though UNHCR and the World Leaders are fully aware the plight of Rohingyas in Burma and why we became refugees. The main reason remains Rohingyas are Muslim. [emphais added]
. . . . We recommend that the ASEAN Leaders to visit Arakan State and to get the accurate information on situation of Rohingyas from the Rohingyas themselves. We also recommend that the ASEAN Secretariat to consult the regional and international human rights organizations who have done many research on Rohingyas in order to get accurate and non-bias information.
The visit by the United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres to the Arakan State on March 7, 2009 revealed the real situation of Rohinyas though he did not say much to the media about his visit. On the basis of his observations and the discussions held, the High Commissioner came to the conclusion that UNHCR’s current level of activities in northern Rakhine State does not correspond to the actual needs and a decision was taken to upgrade the program with immediate effect.
We welcome the move by the ASEAN Leaders to discuss the Rohingyas issue at the Bali Process scheduled for 14-15 April. However we would like to emphasize that the Rohingyas issue is not just relating to Human Trafficking but there is more to it. The discussion must be broader, especially focusing on the recognition of Rohingyas as citizen as well as addressing the ways to stop gross human rights abuses against Rohingyas. The ASEAN Leaders must recognize that Rohingyas are very in need of the International protection as refugees.
We also call on the UNHCR and the Resettlement countries not to discriminate Rohingyas in the Resettlement program as we are also recognized refugees who need the same protection. At the same time we call the ASEAN and World Leaders for more comprehensive and effective intervention in Burma.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Zafar Ahmad Abdul Ghani
President Myanmar Ethnic Rohingyas Human Rights Organization Malaysia (MERHROM)

Aceh Timur's Rohingya Refugees in the News

The following news clips are from an informational email news service called the Serambi Daily Summary, in which important articles from the country that are especially pertinent to Aceh are translated into English and distributed to interested organizations working in the area. The editors note that “unless marked otherwise, all summaries are extracted from the Serambi Indonesia which is our prime source. The following publications are also monitored: Harian Aceh, Rakyat Aceh, Metro Aceh, Waspada, Analisa, Pro Haba, Aceh Independen, Modus Aceh, Kontras and Tempo."

Monday 16 March 09
The Government are Requested to Involve UNHCR to Handle the Rohingya
Banda Aceh – The Indonesian Government is requested to invite UNHCR’s involvement in the handling the Rohingya boatpeople stranded in Aceh several months ago. “We hope that the government will involve UNHCR because the government of Sabang is unable to continuously assist them, especially their logistic needs,” said the Mayor of Sabang, Munawarliza Zainal in Banda Aceh, Tuesday (17/03). When Myanmar’s Prime Minister, General Thein Sein, visited Indonesia, Myanmar’s agreed to accept these boatpeople back to Myanmar only if they could prove that they are indeed Myanmarese. In this regard, the Government of Indonesia agreed to extend their stay as refugees in Indonesia until a final solution is found. Responding to this agreement, the Mayor of Sabang stated that if the Central Government instructed Pemko Sabang (the local government) to utilize the district budget, the Pemko will be able to so. “However, we have not gotten any instruction to use the district budget from the central government; therefore we presently can only assist humanitarianly,” Munawarliza added. According to Munawarliza, the 193 Rohingyas, now camped in Sabang, are being assisted by some NGOS and other parties, yet the logistic stock is very limited.

And an update in the 3/26 summary:

Again, Muslim Aid Assists the Rohingya Refugees
Banda Aceh – For the second time, Muslim Aid Indonesia have assisted the Rohingya refugees in their camp in Idi, Aceh Timur. This time, Muslim Aid distributed food and medicine and it will build three toilets at the camp site. Special Program Officer of Muslim Aid Indonesia, Abdul Hamid, in his press release to Serambi on Thursday, said that food and medicine packages were directly distributed to the refugees, who are now at the office of Camat of Idi Rayeuk, on Thursday (26/03). Meanwhile, the toilets are under construction and will be ready in three days.

My notes: At this time IOM and UNHCR are helping the Sabang camp but as of today (3/27) they are not involved with the Idi camp. Also: the latrines are nearly complete, thanks to the folks at Muslim Aid. They truly are wonderful!!!

Report from the NGO Coordination Meeting in Aceh Timur

Thank goodness I have a great staff in Aceh. Before I left we coordinated a meeting between all the NGO’s involved in assisting the Rohingya refugees, the local leaders (camat, bupati, vice bupati), and various governmental bodies. We had to do some fast talking to convince everyone that we weren’t interested in “taking over.” What we do really well is respond, and we get a little impatient waiting for the wheels of bureaucracy to move. I’ve always felt that if there’s a vacuum and you can fill it, you jolly well go fill it, so we took up the slack regarding coordination and much of the early public information. This has been seen as muscling in, I guess, so my ever-so diplomatic staff worked with participants to smooth some feathers.
The meeting happened day before yesterday, and here’s part of their email report to me:

The meeting was well attended, local NGOs, gvt, TNI, police, and the local UNORC representative.
Each agency took turns to say its bit, and so we laid out our concerns. I think everyone was in agreement about why we were having the meeting and we all wanted the same outcome from the meeting, which isn't always the case. After a rocky start where they assumed we were going to take over, it all worked out well. We explained that we had no interest politically or in taking control. We only wanted to make sure that things were running smoothly enough on the ground so that outside NGO’s and other agencies would donate and feel comfortable helping. We explained that we were really there to help them use the correct reporting methods and to build capacity. They loved that idea and then it settled down to a good meeting.
It was interesting having so many different NGO’s in the room, and we were all sort of suspicious at first . . .I mean, everyone’s trying so hard and naturally there’s some defensiveness about what your group has done so far. It took a while to build some trust but at the end it was agreed that we all needed to work together, the camat acknowledged that accountability to donors was needed,
At first he felt that he was being accused of being dishonest. But when it was made clear that the reporting methods and record keeping were established to get more funding and donations, he cheerfully agreed, and the doctor from the hospital was happy to work with assistance. I think they’re actually all a bit relieved since it had been an extra burden on them.
We also worked on establishing a unified approach to refugee camp management, which was trickier, since it’s customary for the camat to be in charge of everything that goes on in his village. However,. He agreed to participate in a working group meeting on Tuesday, which will clarify roles and responsibilities of all parties. It will also establish some firm timelines and delegations of specific tasks and responsibilities The group was happy that we'd all met and had the chance to air concerns and suggestions for how to move forward. So D will begin teaching people about how to keep proper records on donations, inventory food in storage, etc. warehousing of food etc. She will be our regular representative at the meetings, especially during the time close to the election when foreigners shouldn’t really be travelling back and forth along the roads to Aceh Timur.

Regarding donations, there have been donations from a lot more people/organisations that we've been aware of. There is apparently enough rice for 2 months. FPRM buys fresh supplies on a daily basis (veg and fish) and other supplies when needed, like paraffin. FPRM estimates there is enough money for 5 more days’ worth of supplies.

******************************
Interview with a Refugee in the Camp
From another staff email that day (my responses are in blue):

I spoke to one of the refugees and he spoke broken English-- not good enough to translate but he knew some basic grammar and was able to tell her that they played volleyball, that there was one guy who was the volley champ, that the toilets were smelly and there wasn't always water to wash.
We are still having an awful problem locating a translator.

The toilets are full to choking and urgently need replacing with latrines with a bigger pit. I’m also extremely concerned about the lack of water for washing. It was 2pm when we were there and the water tank where they get mandi water was empty. So there isn't water to wash after they use the toilet, nor to wash hands.

Get in touch with the head of Muslim Aid who we met and tell him we are in serious need. He also has food but is going to wait till after there is proper reporting in place before he brings it (a good idea).

Over lunch we talked about the toilets (that sounds awful I know!) and agreed that what we should do is to put in semi-permanent toilets at the tented camp immediately, because it could be several weeks before there are barracks, if there indeed are. Just my opinion but I don't think shallow pits will hold much more, they are almost full. We will ask the camat if semi-permanents can be installed (hopefully by Muslim Aid). We have to ask him now.
Pemda are providing Mandi water free of charge, 2 times a day but its clearly not enough. I suggested to FPRM that we pay them for more but they didn't think that would work. An alternative is to drill a borehole . . . more expensive, not always successful and not a lot of space in my opinion.

Forget the borehole-- it is too much and by the time we hit water they will have moved. The cost is really high. Talk to FPRM and again tell them they we need water and that we have the funds to pay so please let’s get in more water or else having better toilets will not make a difference since without water to clean themselves the same illnesses will prevail.

Letter to the UN Office of the Recovery Coordinator for Aceh and Nias

Dear M:

I am sorry that we did not chat about what was going on in Aceh Timur but I am leaving today for the States and thought you would catch me before I left. l will not be back for 2-3 weeks.

Let me first tell you that there is a coordination meeting with local NGO's and government agencies that are involved in the camp at this time. The meeting is at 10AM at Ruang Serba Guna, Idi Rayeak. We have been working with Assistant 1 and the local NGO FPRM in arranging this meeting. We do hope that you will attend. It will bring you up to date on what is happening and the players involved. I am sure an invitation has been given to UNORC in Aceh Timur. We hope to have a needs assessment ready for the meeting but it has been [a difficult process.]

There are 198 men in the camp at this time. We have been able to raise $20,000 for food for this month and another $20,000 for next month. So we feel that the food situation is under control. We also have NGO's that are donating more food. We also have a donation of latrines. This is quite important because the sanitation is really not very good at the camp and this situation could breed disease. We also have 3 months of medical care that is being donated along with para-medical personnel and hardware. This will start on the 1st or 2nd of April. We are bringing a psychologist, who is volunteering her time, with us to do mental health assessments for the refugees.

After talking with the Bupati and Assistant 1 this week we all feel that we need to move the camp. The district has land which they will donate but we are in desperate need of barracks or some type of housing. The tents that are being used now are over crowded and inadequate. We also need an interpreter to be in a better position to talk to the refugees about their needs. We are not trying to get information from them since we have no idea how to process refugees and are only filling in till IOM and UNHCR take over the camp.

We have made arrangements, which have been given government consent, to get the names and numbers of refugees to pass on to a group who work with the Rohingyas worldwide and are based in Thailand. They will inform family members that the refugee is alive and well but not divulge the location at this time.

Our office looks forward to speaking to you and hopefully to coordinate all our efforts together. We are working with quite a few NGO's and foreign governments and their agencies on getting more donations. We will keep you apprised if there is any new development.

Best Regards,
Sara

Hello from Aceh!

Welcome to the blog of Building Bridges to the Future Foundation. Actually, this is more of my personal blog, because I felt that in addition to our websites and our Facebook and Twitter pages, (which will be set up shortly by more tech-savvy minds than mine), there needed to be a less formal, more personal accounting of what is happening in Aceh, where I’ve worked (and much of the time lived) since right after the tsunami in 2005. I have to confess that all this internet-based communication is quite new to me, but I’ve always been able to write letters back home to my family, consultants, and people who I’ve asked to assist me with our work in Aceh, so we all decided that a blog would be a great way to keep everyone up to date. If you’re a relative or friend, you can rest assured that Grammy’s still kicking. If you’re someone interested in humanitarian relief efforts in Aceh but don’t know where to begin to look for info, this might be the place to start. If you’re a multinational corporation or large donor, you might grow to rather adore us and decide to fund one or more of our programs.

I have to say that much of what I’ll be writing here (as opposed to what’s on our web page, newsletters, etc) is purely SUBJECTIVE, though I’m going to try and be as diplomatic as I can be here, even if I may be tearing my hair out in frustration from time to time.

This has all been a marvelous journey for me. I came to humanitarian relief via the scenic route, you might say. I’d been an investment banker all of my adult life, and had been stationed in Jakarta (the capital of Indonesia ) since 1991. Immediately after the 2004 Tsunami hit Aceh, leaving nearly 80% of the province devastated, I traveled there with a friend who was involved in building houses in villages on the east coast that had been partly destroyed. I figured, since I’m living in this country I want to see for myself the extent of the disaster that has affected it. I wanted to see the west coast, which had been the most heavily damaged, so we travelled to the village of Rumpet, in the sub-district of Lamno , which because of its topography had been hit on three sides. What I found there absolutely broke my heart. There was nothing. People were wandering AROUND through rubble, like zombies. And yet, survivors had this spirit in them still, this desire to move forward . . .and to help others, which was more moving to me than anything else. It’s this deep sense of concern for others that I witnessed time and again over the past 4 years, most recently in the village of Idi, in eastern Aceh where 198 Rohingyan refugees landed on the coast, fleeing conditions in Myanmar . This incident is one of the reasons I feel I need to keep a public daily journal of what is going on in Aceh. The people in this area are some of the poorest in the country, and while for weeks no large aid organization was forthcoming with any type of assistance for the refugees, who were starving and injured, the Achenese in this village opened their hearts and homes, giving what little they had to complete strangers, just because they needed it. Every day since then the community delivers fresh fish to the camp so the refugees have fish.

One of the first things I did back in 2005 in Rumpet was ask local leaders what people needed. Housing, they said. People needed housing. There had only been 300 houses built in that area—by the Turkish government—since the tsunami had hit. So with my own funds I hired two local men, who would become the first two members of my “team,” and together until December of 2005 we built enough houses so that the people of Rumpet were among the first in Aceh to be back in their homes. Through 2007 we finished projects that larger NGO’s left due to safety and other concerns, reclaimed crop fields, provided livestock and building materials to a number of community members, and gradually our little group grew and became a cohesive unit and positive force in the area of sustainable livelihoods in Aceh.

I’ve gotten to know some wonderful people in the development field here. When I was just a “rookie,” I received lots of information, and some good advice, which was to become a registered 501 c 3 organization so that I could apply to various governments and assistance bodes for funding instead of just, well, using my own.

So Building Bridges to the Future Foundation was born, based in New York, but with most of the activity taking place in the tough parts of Aceh (which we got a reputation for being able to serve when no one else would).

I became President of the Foundation, got an house/office in Banda, the capital city, and set up an office there. My little group of talented but not-too-organized staff became even more talented, and very organized, and we formed an Indonesian registered NGO, called Yayasan Jimbatan Masa Depan (JMD), to be the counterpart to Building Bridges to the Future.

Our progress and programs are laid out in lots of loving and professional detail on the websites (http://www.buildingbridgestothefuturefoundation.org/ and http://www.jmd.org.id/).

But for the purposes of this blog, I want to start in the present. And the present is a mad whirl of activity, let me tell you. We’re up in Aceh Timur (east Aceh) where there is a double humanitarian crisis. While JMD has managed to wrestle some small amounts of aid from the world community (with help from many stalwart and small NGO’s on the ground there), the situation is pretty dire. After all, as anyone working with refugees knows, eventually they have to have somewhere to go—a permanent home, a livelihood, a community. At the same time, the Achenese themselves in this area are on the brink of starvation. As a matter of fact, we were developing programming for this area when the Rohingya landed on the beach in battered boats, towed ashore by Acehnese fishermen.

So this blog will hopefully be a daily or every other day update of what I’m doing, what my team is doing, what our good friends in Aceh are doing . . . and I’ll try to get a handle on this blogging thing and give you links and reading and maps and photos so that you know this place and care for it as much as I do. I’m in Aceh now but I’m on an extended visa and they’ll be booting me out on Sunday, but I’ll be back there in three weeks.

But lots can happen even from 6,000 miles away, and now that this is set up, I hope I will be adding to it regularly.