November 22, 2002

Dear Praying Friends--

Thousands of refugees in Manado and Bitung are facing an uncertain future. The Indonesian government is in the process of closing a number of the refugee camps placing thousands of refugees in crisis again. Their plan is to send most of them back to their home islands. That is a worthy goal but many of the islands are still dangerous. Their safety cannot be guaranteed. There are places like Ternate where all the churches have been destroyed and every Christian fled during the fighting. I spoke with one young girl from Ternate who told me that she had 53 members of her family killed in the fighting. Ternate is under Islamic law. It would be impossible for returning Christians to practice their religion.

Over the last three years there have been two previous attempts by the Indonesian officials to close the refugee camps and send the Christian refugees back to their home islands. In January of 2002 I spoke with families who went back to their homes, as they were told by the government, only to find that their homes and lands have been possessed by some of the Muslim attackers who ran them off their islands in the previous year. They told of others who were attacked again as they went back to their homes and tried to begin their lives again. Others were told they could come back to their home if they would convert to Islam.

This is a time we need to pray. The refugees in Manado and Bitung fit into several classes:

• The refugees who remain in the camps are those who are sick, widowed, old, unable to access the work force--these are the least of the least. There are camps with as many as five thousand who dwell in cramped conditions. In Bitung, there has already been the closure of one large camp. The officials are opening a new camp site in the area. I just received this note from Peter Scarborough, whose wife is the director of the medical clinic in Manado, he writes, “Dua Saudara in Bitung will close today (November 20), the people are being forced to a new camp out of Bitung - they are not happy. Most of the refugees from that Camp are from Ternate and they do not want to go back. They won't go back - still actually traumatized.” He also said other camps are scheduled for closing before the end of the year.
  
  
• There are others who have found their way to resettlement sites. There are three resettlement areas that provide a great start for the refugees lucky enough to be placed there. These three sites are privately funded and managed. IFC has made an investment of providing some of the housing and drilled a water well to provide clean water to these sites. There are adequate housing, safe water, electricity, garden areas, schooling for their children, and churches have been built in these resettlement sites.
  
  
• There is another resettlement site (Pandu) where 500 families are without waist disposal and the water they are drinking is contaminated with mercury. There is a plan for another 1,500 families to move there. I have been there and have heard the residents say they were better off in the camps.
  
  
• Other refugees live in whatever housing they can find. These are the non-refugee refugees. These came to this region after the government policy was in place where fleeing Christians would not be classified as refugees. These are in bad shape. They are not in the refugee camps but live in cramped housing in the mountains between Manado and Bitung. IFC has been feeding over 500 of them for the last two months after we got reports of their meager existence. The medical staff has examined them and report that they are in poor health due to bad nutrition. These refugees have faced some of the worst attacks and violence against them over the last three years.
  
  
• There are those who are fortunate to find jobs and have taken their families out of the camps. These are the skilled or healthy and able bodied. They may live on their own or with family, friends, or church contacts.
  
  
• There is yet another category--these are woman who have turned to prostitution. This number is growing and it is a real tragedy. These women may have lost their husbands or other securities in their lives. In Indonesia there is no social net. If you don't have income, you do not eat. We desire to start a home for these women and get them off the streets. This is as sad as it gets---these women were living there lives with their families when the attacks began. They fled losing their homes and in a number of cases their husbands and other family members have been killed. They then flee to safety where they have no job, no family, no one who cared or were able to help. They may have children and then they resort to selling their own bodies. Please pray for them that we will be able to develop a way to restore their lives. We know that the Lord can heal all the wounds they have.
  

The governments plan affects thousands in the refugee camps. These other groups of refugees will remain in their current condition. This forces thousands to move to new locations. Some are too sick to make the trip and many are upset and confused. The people from Ternate refuse to go back to Ternate. It is not safe and the memories of the attacks are still clear in their minds.

Please pray for all refugees in these uncertain days. The medical staff has been making efforts to go to where the refugees are. There are many who fled to villages on the large Island of Halmahera. They are relatively safe at this time. The problem is food and access to medical help.

There are two other large concentrations of refugees in this region. In Tobelo, North Maluku, there are at last count about 53,000 refugees there. This area has had small conflict recently. There were five villages attacked two months ago and large caches of weapons found among local Muslims near Tobelo. Another 50,000 refugees are in the Central Sulawesi region near the village of Tentena. I have not heard what the government is going to do with these refugees.

The best plan for the refugees is to get them to their homes and their lives restored. The problem is that their safety cannot be guaranteed. In addition to their security, the refugees have asked for four other conditions to their return to their islands. They ask for the guarantee of freedom of religion. They want to rebuild their churches and worship freely and openly. Also, they are asking for the guarantee to education. They want their children in school. They are asking for access to jobs. They cannot survive if they can’t work. The final guarantee they seek is access to health care. These are basic guarantees in a democracy.

You can see that we need to join them in prayer.

I want to thank you in advance for the concern for our brothers and sisters. Most of you have never met them, you would be delighted to know that many are very devoted Christians--but all need our prayers. I hope you can see how complex the problem is and why we need to pray for them now.

Hebrews 13:3

Carl Cady—US Director for International Friends of Compassion

Our web site-- www.ifcus.org