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nternally displaced Shiites in Sidoarjo, East Java, have had to help pay the medical bills for a hospitalized friend housed at the same shelter because the provincial administration does not provide adequate health insurance.

The friend, Marto, who is diabetic, had a stomach disorder and was treated in hospital in early January.

The 50-year-old is among the 184 Shiites displaced from their homes in Karanggayam village, Omben district, Sampang, Madura, after a bloody incident with Sunni followers in August 2012.

The mob killed two Shiites, burned down 10 of their houses and damaged others.

'€œEvery displaced Shiite at the shelter then chipped in to pay Marto'€™s medical expenses because the East Java Disaster Mitigation Agency [BPBD] officers at the shelter said they did not have the funds for inpatient treatment,'€ East Java Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator, Andy Irfan, said on Thursday.

Iklil Al Milal, the Sampang displaced Shiite coordinator, had a similar experienced in November when his one-year-old child had a respiratory tract infection and had to hospitalized.

'€œPak Iklil had to pay with his own money for treatment at the hospital, whereas in fact those taking refuge here do not get an allowance. Luckily, a large portion of the medical bill was covered by Muhammadiyah Muslim organization. Its members are active in providing assistance to the displaced here.

'€œThe East Java provincial administration only provides medical workers to tend to people at the shelter,'€ said Andy.

Meanwhile, Asyhar, the third assistant to the East Java administration'€™s secretary, said he had not known about the refugees who paid their own medical bills. '€œI will check it.'€

The Shiites have also complained that the government restricts their activities beyond the confines of the shelter, but had not provided a solution on how they could earn a living.

The shelter is located in Puspa Agro Market, so some of the younger Shiites earn money loading and unloading goods.

'€œSometimes I make Rp 10,000 [80 US cents] a day, and sometimes Rp 100,000 if I unload a container of coconuts. Sometimes, if not often, I don'€™t earn anything,'€ said Rosyid, who once cycled to Jakarta to protest his misfortune to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Another Shiite, Mujadi, said he and several of his friends preferred to find work unloading goods at Puspa Agro Market.

'€œWe don'€™t get an allowance from the government, and yet we are restricted from going outside the shelter to earn a living even though we have to meet our daily needs. We don'€™t have any money,'€ said Majudi.

Kontras, Andy said, would urge the government to arrange access to health care for those at the shelter who were susceptible to illness, such as the elderly, toddlers, expectant mothers as well as those with chronic illnesses.

Andy said of the 63 families at the shelter, between 25 and 30 people were susceptible to illness.

'€œBesides access to health care, the government should also give access to jobs. Just imagine those who held jobs before but now have nothing to do, and yet the families must meet their daily needs,'€ said Andy.

Previously, the government, through the Public Housing Ministry, initiated a house reconstruction program for the Sampang Shiites, in which each family was entitled to Rp 7.5 million to repair their damaged houses.

The funds were to be disbursed to the Shiites, but, Andy said, instead they were given housing materials by officers in the field. The alleged graft case is being handled by the Sampang Prosecutor'€™s Office.