INDONESIA: REFUGEES FROM TROUBLED ACEH PROVINCE

(14 Jul 1999) Natural Sound

With no letup in the violence in Indonesia's troubled Aceh province, the number of people fleeing the fighting is rising to unprecedented proportions.

At one refugee camp housed in a converted gas factory in Lhokseumawe, over six-thousand Acehnese have gathered after leaving their homes in fear for their lives.

Unrest continues to instill fear in the residents of the Sumatran province, where rebels have been fighting for independence since the 1970's.

In the northern coastal town of Lhokseumawe, the tents of a growing refugee city dot the landscape.

Here, in the troubled Sumatran province of Aceh, over six-thousand people have come to a former gas factory to find shelter and safety which they feel they cannot be assured of at home.

Area villages are emptying as residents leave their homes out of fear of being caught in the clashes between soldiers and rebels in the province's insurgency seeking an independent Islamic state.

Rebels have been waging their battle for independence from Indonesia since the 1970's.

The recent upsurge in fighting has claimed more than 100 lives since early May.

Clashes on Tuesday left six rebels and two policemen dead, according to government military sources.

It was the highest death toll for a single day in recent months.

Fearing the violence will only continue and spread, tens of thousands of Acehnese have decided to leave their homes behind and head for the camps.

The troubled province has seen a decade of increased anti-separatist military operations against the Aceh Merdeka (Free Aceh) movement fighting for independence.

Tuesday's clashes came as calls mounted for a pullout of troops and special police units from the troubled province northeast of Jakarta.

But as long as clashes between both sides continue, these residents are desperately hoping the shelter of the refugee camps will keep them out of the crossfire.

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