The
Indonesians forced to flee from homes and villages found safety and shelter
in several refugee camps in North Sulawesi and Halmahera. These cramped
and overcrowded centers offer a short term solution for urgent shelter
needs. The refugees are grateful to find a place of safety. The concentration
of refugees existed in three primary areas:
• The Manado region has been the haven for over 40,000
refugees over the last few years of this crisis. There were eight refugee
camps in the region. The refugee camps in this area are gradually closing
as the Indonesian government seeks to send the refugees back to their
home Islands. It is hard to say at this point how many are still in the
camps and how many have left for their home islands. According to the
Sulawesi Crisis Center there remains about 10,000 in refugee camps and
resettlement sites--those remaining are the old, sick, widowed, mentally
and emotionally ill, and single parents with children.
In
the Tobelo vicinity there is still some potential problems but many
of the refugees are seeking to return to their homes and start over
again. A number of these refugees are from the island of Morotai, which
has received attacks on their villages in early 2003.
IFC seeks a long-term housing solution for the refugees in cooperation
with other agencies and local and regional governments.
The
Indonesians forced to flee from homes and villages found safety and shelter
in several refugee camps in North Sulawesi and Halmahera. These cramped
and overcrowded centers offer a short term solution for urgent shelter
needs. The refugees are grateful to find a place of safety. The concentration
of refugees existed in three primary areas:
In
the Tobelo vicinity there is still some potential problems but many
of the refugees are seeking to return to their homes and start over
again. A number of these refugees are from the island of Morotai, which
has received attacks on their villages in early 2003.