Strife-torn Aceh on the road to peace
By V. Jayanth The Hindu | October 20, 2005 http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/20/stories/2005102005841100.htm A fallout of the December 26 tsunami is that it has speeded up the peace process in the strife-torn Indonesian province. THERE HAS been a positive outcome from the tsunami that ravaged parts of Indonesia in December 2004. The peace process in the trouble-prone province of Aceh has taken off, quite unexpectedly. The Free Aceh Movement, known by the Indonesian acronym of GAM, realised the crisis confronting the people and decided to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Government in Jakarta to pursue a negotiated, political settlement. The southern island of Sumatra bore the brunt of the tsunami and Aceh was among the badly-affected provinces. About 150,000 lives were lost in Indonesia and vast tracts of many provinces were reduced to rubble. Rebuilding the houses and reconstructing the lives of those rendered homeless by the tsunami was in itself a major challenge to the Government, which could ill afford to face the armed revolt by GAM. This movement for a "free Aceh," which has been going on for three decades, perhaps got a fresh lease of life when Indonesia agreed to grant independence to East Timor. With both the Government and GAM realising the seriousness of the situation and the problems of the people, discreet talks began with the help of the former Finnish President, Marti Ahtisaari, in Europe. The basic agreement was that Aceh's people deserved peace and an opportunity to rebuild their lives. And this made a landmark agreement possible in late August this year, which culminated in an MoU between Jakarta and GAM. The fighters agreed to give up their armed struggle and the Government offered far-reaching autonomy for the province and amnesty to GAM cadres. The European Union (EU) took up the liaison task between the two sides. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), was also involved in the setting up of the Aceh Monitoring Mission (AMM). In addition to the EU representatives, five ASEAN countries Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand are participating in this mission, which provides top level contact between the two parties, besides field-level inspections and fire fighting. According to informed sources, the first phase of decommissioning and demobilisation is proceeding at "a pace comfortable to all sides." At least twice a week, the AMM chief, Peter Feith, meets top officials from both sides to iron out the problems on hand. The partial handing over of arms and a concerted effort at rehabilitation and re-integration of GAM cadres into the mainstream is synchronised with a partial pullout of Indonesian troops from the province. Over the next couple of phases, the EU-ASEAN plans to implement a comprehensive reconstruction programme to create democratic institutions to ensure a smooth transition of power. All concerned seem to have realised that this can be the only way forward. Aside from the responsibilities on Jakarta and GAM to ensure the full and fair implementation of the agreement, it becomes incumbent on the part of the EU-ASEAN to remove irritants. The European Commission has pledged support to the rebuilding process and international aid too will follow. The Sri Lankan situation Unfortunately, no such developments have taken place in Sri Lanka, where too, the people in the strife-torn north and east were devastated by the tsunami. Ten months after the tsunami, Colombo has been unable to utilise substantial foreign assistance for want of a joint mechanism with the intransigent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to implement projects and programmes. The LTTE wants the funds to be handed over to it, while the Government wants a say in the implementation. The people continue to struggle as Norway tries, rather ineffectively, for a broad agreement. What is happening in Aceh could surely offer a few lessons to other strife-torn zones in the world, particularly to Sri Lanka and the LTTE. But the question is whether the LTTE wants to put the people first. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -- This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
