The Jakarta Post | Fri, 08/05/2011 3:00 PM |
Panca Nugraha
This is the sixth Ramadhan that Ahmadiyah refugees have been forced to celebrate at the shelter in the Wisma Transito transmigration center in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
They endure such limited living in hopes of leading a normal life as Indonesian citizens.
One Ahmadi refugee, Suriyani, 32, washes a cooking pan. Her one-year-old daughter, Amiatun Azizah, sits cross-legged nearby, eating plain rice from a plastic bowl.
The women at the shelter are finished preparing food for Tuesday’s maghrib, which marks the break of the day’s fasting.
“There is nothing special here. Ramadhan or not, the menu is the same due to our limited resources. Breaking the fast with vegetables is enough. The important thing is that there is still enough rice to eat,” said Suriyani.
Suriyani said this year’s Ramadhan was more difficult than last year’s. The retail price of kerosene has surged to Rp 9,000 (US$1.05) per liter, higher than the industrial price of Rp 7,500 per liter. The refugees are not entitled to the free gas stove and 3-kilogram gas canister provided by the government’s kerosene-to-gas conversion program, as they are not listed as residents of Majeluk subdistrict, where Wisma Transito is located.
“We need four liters of kerosene for cooking each week. That’s why we prefer to use firewood, as it’s cheaper,” said the mother of four.
Suriyani’s husband, Khaeruddin, 35, has worked as an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver for two years and collects branches and dried durian peels. “As I wait for passengers, I gather tree branches and dried durian peels for firewood,” he said.
For Khaeruddin, Ramadhan is still a holy month and he performs his religious duties sincerely. “I hope I can fast every day throughout the month without any flaws,” he said.
Khaeruddin and Suriyani are one of the 36 Ahmadi families and 138 members enduring life in the shelter after being evicted from their homes in Ketapang hamlet, Gegerung village, Lingsar district, West Lombok, on Feb. 4, 2006.
The fate of these citizens has been neglected since 2008, after the government stopped providing relief aid for the victims of social conflict. Their citizenship identity cards have expired and can no longer be extended due to various excuses given by the municipal, regency and provincial administrations.
“During the refugee period, 16 babies have been born here. What makes us sad is that none of them have birth certificates because their parents did not have identity cards and so, consequently, we face difficulties in getting healthcare and education,” said refugee coordinator Syahidin, 46.
The citizenship rights of Ahmadi refugees have been neglected despite living in provincial capital Mataram. They have never received government programs for the impoverished despite being poor. They no longer have access to their farmland in Ketapang, and because their basic skills are farming, that is their only viable employment option.
According to Syahidin, the NTB provincial administration has provided counseling at the shelter over the past three weeks, but the program has not met the essential needs of the refugees.
The refugees have only attended religious sermons every Thursday and Saturday night, after isya prayers at the shelter, despite the fact one of their essential needs is reinstatement of their citizenship status.
“We warmly welcome the counseling program, but it should also be provided to members of the general public so they can accept us as the same as other Indonesians,” said Syahiddin.
According to Mataram Ahmadiyah preacher Basiruddin, there has been no significant development in the fate of the refugees. “Discussions on assets compensation with the NTB Prosecutor’s Office have been stalled since January. The West Lombok regency administration said it would form a team to be assigned at the shelter, but the team has yet to arrive at the shelter,” he said.
Their citizenship status remains pending and without certainty. According to Basiruddin, their basic human and citizenship rights have been violated.
“We have eventually become like people without a government. Actually, we only need status and safety assurance, without which the refugee issue can never be resolved,” he said.
The Ramadhan nights this year are still filled with Koran recitals at the small mosque in the shelter. However, many parts of the mosque are rundown and the shelter complex has just six lamps for light.
There is no longer the joy of children setting off fireworks at the shelter, as children in the city do. “As citizens, we accept every program provided by the government despite never knowing the outcome. Like a loose kite, we are carried by the wind, but we don’t know where we will fall,” Khaeruddin said.
— JP
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