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Nine years later: Maluku refugees still waiting for rights
It has already been nine years since the social conflict in Maluku broke out on Jan
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t has already been nine years since the social conflict in Maluku broke out on Jan. 19, 1999, but thousands of people displaced by the strife are still waiting in uncertainty over when they will obtain their rights.
"Maluku refugees should be recorded as the longest-displaced people in their own country by the MURI Indonesian Records Museum," quipped Maluku Refugees Coalition head Pieter Pattiwaelapia during a recent discussion titled Reflections of Nine Years of Living in Refuge in Ambon.
Participants in the discussion, organized by the Maluku Media Center, included the Maluku Refugees Coalition, the Maluku chapter of the National Commission on Human Rights, refugee coordinators and representatives, non-governmental organizations and journalists.
Participants alleged the government had not addressed the refugee issue since 2001. The latest data issued by the Maluku provincial administration early this year indicated a remaining 12,080 refugee families who had yet to obtain their rights.
Pattiwaelapia said it was ironic the refugee issue in Maluku had yet to be settled, considering the huge funds contributed to the cause by both the central government and overseas organizations.
The long-standing refugee problem, he said, was due to the lack of valid data on the number of refugees each year. He said the refugee management mechanism had also created an opportunity to misuse funds.
In 2005 the Maluku administration announced the number of deprived refugees at 12,315. In the same year the central government assisted a number of refugee families using state funds, as well in 2006 and 2007, when those who were recorded in the government's list were provided with their rights.
"The number should have significantly dropped, but the latest data showed as many as 12,080 families remain, indicating that only 235 families have been assisted after three years in which more than Rp 300 billion (approximately US$33.3 million) of refugee funds were exhausted for the purpose," said Pattiwaelapia.
One of the impacts of the conflict is territorial segregation based on religion. Besides returning to their places of origin, most of the refugees were included in the relocation program, thus hampering the reintegration and reconciliation process among communities.
One of the seven points agreed upon in the Malino peace agreement, signed in South Sulawesi in 2002, stipulates refugees must be returned to their places of origin without coercion and should be given their civil rights back in phases.
"The Malino peace pact did not specify anything about refugee relocation like what the government is doing right now. The government should also restore their civil rights. However, the reality is contrary to the peace pact. Civil rights issues are still uncertain and could spark renewed conflict," he said.
In a number of former strife areas, civil rights issues pertaining to land, farm and building ownership are still capable of sparking new conflicts, he said, citing one example in the land dispute between residents in Laala and Ariate in 2007, in which dozens of residents were injured.
Refugee coordinator of Keramat Jaya village Rahman said some of the homes of around 300 refugee families who fled the village during the conflict were still intact but had been seized and occupied by other people.
"They don't want to give up our homes. The government mediating team at one point brought us together, but later left and let us deal with the problem with the occupiers. The problem has not been settled so far," he said.
The head of the Maluku chapter of the National Commission on Human Rights, Octovianus Lawalatta, said the government refugee management program was still conditional in nature, and that it had gauged progress only on the number of houses being rebuilt, how much building material had been distributed or how many refugees had received their rights.
"The government has not been wholehearted in addressing issues created by the conflict, such as civil rights, trauma healing, infrastructure restoration and economic empowerment," he said.
The peace pact stated the government would assist people in post-trauma healing, social and economic rehabilitation and providing public services, such as education, health, houses of worship and housing.
"Besides civil rights, the government should also guarantee people's basic rights by providing clean water, health care and education. A number of houses built for refugees outside Ambon, such as on Seram and Buru islands, are not fit for human settlement but, if I may say, are more appropriate for animals," said Lawalatta.
