Indonesia: In search of durable solutions for all

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^{31 December 2008}

The number of IDPs in Indonesia continued to decline in 2008 as people displaced since the late 1990s in different provinces became integrated in their place of displacement or returned to their areas of origin. The principal concerns for remaining IDPs continued to revolve around accessing the basic necessities of life and rebuilding sustainable livelihoods. Resolution of property disputes, access to farming land and compensation for property lost were also recurring issues. Efforts were needed to relocate those in camps to decent settlements where they could acquire land to work and property titles, or else grant them the land the camps are situated on and significantly improve the living conditions there.

The largest remaining IDP population was in Maluku Province, where in 2008 an estimated 50,000 people were still in relocation sites waiting to receive a government assistance package, with a further 4,000 or so in North Maluku still in need of assistance. Fighting between Christian and Muslim communities displaced nearly one million in both provinces between 1999 and 2002. In both provinces, areas previously religiously mixed have remained segregated.

In Central Sulawesi, displacement was also caused by violence between Christian and Muslim communities between 1998 and 2002. In 2008 around 5,000 people were still displaced on borrowed land or in resettlement camps in Poso Regency, because assistance funds had never reached them due to corruption or because continuing tensions were preventing their return to areas of origin where they had been in a minority. Elsewhere in the province thousands of people, many of them displaced, were still waiting for housing assistance.

In other provinces such as West Timor, West and Central Kalimantan, thousands of people displaced by communal violence had still not returned, either because they were unwilling to face hostile neighbours or because they had nothing to return to. Many were living in camps or relocation sites without access to basic services, where they were struggling to recover in the absence of sufficient support.

Conflicts between insurgent and government forces have also caused displacement. In Aceh Province, large-scale displacement followed the intensification in 1999 of conflict between the rebels of the Free Aceh Movement and the security forces. After the 2005 peace agreement, IDPs started returning home, and by 2008 only a few thousand people were still displaced, dispersed across rural districts of Central Aceh and in need of targeted assistance. Nonetheless, a decade of war and displacement had left many people in Aceh vulnerable. Trauma was widespread, and destruction and looting of property had pushed a large proportion of the population, and in particular IDPs, into extreme poverty.

In Papua, displacement has been ongoing since 2001 due to the security forces’ campaigns against insurgents of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which have often been accompanied by human rights violations. No displacement was reported in 2008, although military operations against OPM rebels are known to have continued.

A national IDP policy, which was adopted in 2001 and ran until 2004, laid out the framework for assistance. The government has provided comprehensive humanitarian assistance but has often struggled to ensure durable solution for the displaced or the returnees. It has distributed “empowerment” packages, built houses, provided building materials to IDPs and set up relocation centres, but delivery of funds has been beset by unreliable data on the displaced, poor coordination and corruption in almost all provinces.

During 2008 only a limited number of international agencies continued to provide direct support to IDPs or returnees in need of assistance. Absence of attention and lack of funding has forced many to close down operations over the past years. The UN no longer assists conflict-induced IDPs as a separate vulnerable group, preferring to address their needs within wider reintegration and development programmes targeting entire communities. A number of international NGOs have maintained programmes in Maluku, Central Sulawesi, Central Kalimantan and West Timor, while local NGOs and church groups have supported IDPs across the country and in particular in Papua, where the government has not opened conflict-affected areas to neutral observers or humanitarian agencies.

In early 2009, sometimes ten years after being first displaced by inter-communal violence opposing different ethnic or religious groups, or by separatist struggles between rebel groups and security forces, tens of thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) in many provinces of Indonesia are still struggling to find durable solutions that would enable them to end their displacement. In Aceh, Maluku, West Timor, West and Central Kalimantan and Central Sulawesi, some former displaced groups are prevented from enjoying basic rights on the same level as other citizens as a result of economic, social and political segregation mechanisms, inadequate material and social assistance and unaddressed land and property issues. These groups often share a number of common problems including poor housing conditions, lack of access to land, lack of economic opportunities, food insecurity, limited access to basic services such as clean water, health care or education, and limited social integration with surrounding communities.

In Papua province, which remains Indonesia’s only conflict area, counter-insurgency operations conducted in recent years by the military against rebels of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) have forced thousands of people from their homes, many seeking refuge in the jungle to escape human rights violations committed by the security forces. Although no significant displacement has been reported since 2007, military operations against OPM rebels have reportedly continued in 2009.

Since 2004, the government has officially considered the IDP problem solved and former IDPs considered either as “vulnerable poor” or “victims of social disasters”. In regions where significant numbers of IDPs have remained, the government has however continued to provide assistance, mainly through programmes addressing the needs of both displaced and host communities. Nonetheless, corruption involving IDP funds, unreliable data on the displaced, poor coordination and limited local capacity have often hampered the response and prevented assistance from reaching IDPs. A limited number of international organisations have continued to assist conflict-induced IDPs as well as their host communities in some provinces, focusing mainly on economic and social recovery.

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^{20 March 2009}