ASIA/INDONESIA - Why are arms in Banda Aceh not silent? The tsunami and guerrilla warfare

Monday, 10 January 2005

Jakarta (Fides Service) - In northern Sumatra the tsunami hit a situation which was already difficult, marked by conflict and violence. For more than a year the Indonesian army has launched a massive offensive against rebels with martial law and 40,000 troops and security forces.
Jakarta is fighting about 5,000 rebels of the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Gam, “Movement for Free Aceh Libera”), a secesionst group formed in the 1970s. These proud rebels live in the hills where they fight a fragmented guerrilla war and probably did not suffer losses with the tsunami, and could now take advantage of the sudden impasse of the army to launch an offensive.
The tragedy of war could outdo that of the tsunami. And the first signs are already visible. Following a cease fire announced the day after the tragedy, fighting has resumed and shooting was heard hear the UN headquarters in Banda Aceh, and in the villages of Seunudun e Lham Long, and many are reported dead.
War has become verbal with reciprocal accusations and provocation and violence between government and militia and the United Nations warned that if hostilities resume it will have to leave the area with serious consequences for humanitarian aid.
Jakarta has sent 15,000 extra troops to help with aid work but some observers fear this is an excuse to put an end to the guerrilla movement which has a long tradition in Sumatra. The island has a long story of conflict with Java, where the capital Jakarta is situated, considered the centre of power with exploits peripheries taking raw materials and leaving the local people in conditions of poverty and underdevelopment. Same accusations come from Papua, Moluccas and the former province of East Timor, outlying areas of this archipelago of 17mila island.
Sumatra is mainly interested in oil, but ethnic awareness is accompanied by rigid Muslim identity (Sharia is law here) which often borders on fundamentalism.
Economic, historical and religious motivations are a dangerous cocktail which could be explosive. In fact the rebels do not welcome western aid, especially aid from the US. Here too as in Sri Lanka, if war breaks out the people could be the ones to pay and the most vulnerable are more than 35,000 children who lost their parents in the tsunami disaster. We can only hope that the arms will remain silence and humanitarian work may continue.
(PA) (Agenzia Fides 10/1/2005 righe 36 parole 367)


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