11 November 2003
NO REPORT ON AUSTRALIA'S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT KURDISH REFUGEES, KALLA SAYS
Jakarta - Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Yusuf Kalla said Monday he has yet to receive reports that Australia has refused Kurdish refugees brought in by an Indonesian boat which entered Australian waters.
"No, there is no report on it. I have just read about it in the newspapers," he said before attending a limited cabinet session here.
Kalla said the refugees would be accommodated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and not the Indonesian government.
He said such a refusal toward the Iraqi refugees who were once accommodated in Puncah, Bogor in West Java, is the Australian policy.
"We, of course, could not urge them," he added. (Antara)
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IMMIGRATION OFFICE IN INDONESIA'S AMBON SAYS KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT TURKISH IMMIGRANTS
Ambon, Maluku, - Chief of the immigration office here, Wirjono, said on Monday that his office knows nothing about the boatload of Turkish immigrants who have reportedly landed in the eastern Indonesian town of Saumlaki in Yamdena island.
Wirjono said the 14 men, suspected to be Kurds from Turkey, are currently under police custody in Saumlaki in southwest Maluku.
Saumlaki Police said they have arrested the 14 foreigners for questioning because they have encroached on Indonesian territory without adequate immigration documents.
The Turkish asylum-seekers, according to an AFP report on Monday, landed in eastern Indonesia's Yamdena island on Saturday after being turned back by the Australian Navy.
Quoting Saumlaki Police chief Ahmad Yani, AFP said the Turkish would be sent to the provincial police headquarters in Ambon where the police can liaise with the immigration office there.
Meanwhile, Wirjono said Ambon's immigration office would continue to wait for the result of the investigation made by the Saumlaki Police on the Turkish immigrants.
"We will continue to wait for the result of the police investigation. If the Turkish people are found to have inadequate documents, then they would be deported," he said. (Antara)
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TNI CHIEF CONFIRMS ACEH MARTIAL LAW'S EXTENSION
Jakarta - Indonesian military chief Gen Endriartono Sutarto confirmed here Monday that martial law in Aceh will be extended for another six months.
The extension was expected to cost 60 percent less than the first six-month period when the government spent about Rp1.2 trillion, Sutarto told newsmen here Monday.
"The decision to extend martial law in Aceh was made at a recent cabinet meeting," Sutarto said.
He pointed out it was not the Indonesian military but the government that had the authority to extend martial law in Aceh as it was a political matter.
"The Indonesian military only implements the political decision," he added.
On the results of the first six-month period of martial law, which will expire next week, the Indonesian military chief said they were good although there were still shortcomings.
"For almost six months, security restoration operations in Aceh have been satisfactorily implemented and in certain things, they exceeded the target," he said without further elaboration.
The success of the security restoration operations was indicated by the Acehenese people's recognition that the frequency of security disturbances and threats from the Aceh Separatist Movement (GSA) had diminished, he said.
Likewise, the Acehenese people now had the courage to report and give information on the presence of GAM rebels, he said, adding that the Acehnese were also committed to rejecting involvement in any GAM activities.
Another indication of the success of the security restoration operations was that the Indonesian military launched more raids on GAM than the other way round," he said.
"It means that the rebels' power has drastically shrunk. The Indonesian military frequently makes armed contacts in the effort to hunt down the rebels," Sutarto said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian military chief admitted there are still a number of GAM rebel leaders who have not been apprehended, as there were some constraints like the stratified security measures the rebel leaders had taken.
In addition, the rebel leaders always disappeared when armed contacts between their irregulars and the Indonesian troops occurred, he said, adding that many rebel leaders were still unidentified.
Sutarto however said his side was continuing to hunt down rebel leaders.
Further measures
On the extension of martial law in Aceh for the next six months, Sutarto had set a number of measures including the improvement of soldiers' professionalism through trainings and provision of better military equipment.
Another measure was that the Indonesian military would soon accomplish the pattern of security restoration operation in Aceh, as the rebel position has been split into smaller units, he said.
"The Indonesian military will encounter them also with smaller units which have wider operational scope with high mobility," Sutarto said.
The Indonesian military would also make mutation of both individuals or group at the levels of leadership, staff and combat teams, he said.
The Indonesian military will improve its intelligent and territorial operations in an effort to awaken the people's awareness of no longer helping the rebels, Sutarto said.
Another step to be taken is to prepare Aceh as well as possible to carry out the 2004 general elections cleanly, fairly and honestly, he said.
"The Indonesian military has been determined to show neutral stance and will not give support to any general election political contestants," he said.
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam province has been under lingering conflicts as GAM had continued to fight for independence from Indonesia since 1976. Thousands of people have died in the hostilities between Indonesian troops and the rebels.
As the conflict continued in Aceh, the Indonesian government declared martial law in the restive province on May 19, 2003.
At a cabinet meeting on November 6, the government decided to extend martial law in the country's westernmost province for another six months. (Antara)
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INDONESIA POLICE HAVE UNCOVERED MORE THAN 50 BOMBING CASES
Denpasar - More than 50 bombing cases in Indonesia were unveiled following the arrest of most of the perpetrators of the Bali bombings last year, police said here on Monday.
"More than 50 bombing cases were unveiled after the arrest of most of the perpetrators of the Bali bombings," Bali regional police chief Inspector General I Made Mangku Pastika said when receiving participants of an advanced course for police senior and staff officers.
"We can be proud that Bali was the 'gateway' to the disclosure of a dozen bombing cases in various parts of the country," he said.
He said the police had so far been able to arrest more than 100 suspects.
"On further analysis it was found that the bombing cases were related to each other," he said.
Citing an example, he said one of the key Bali bombing suspects, Imam Samudra, also proved to be involved in a bombing incident in Batam, Another Bali bomber, Mubarok, had played a role in a bombing case in Mojokerto while Idris alias Jhoni Hendrawan had also participated in bombings in Pekanbaru and at the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta recently.
Several suspects are currently still at large including alleged bomb experts Dr Azahari and Noor Din Moh Top. (Antara)
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HOUSE VOTES DRAFT 2004 STATE BUDGET INTO LAW
Jakarta - The House of Representatives (DPR) on Monday voted the draft 2004 state budget into a law with 12 legislators raising objections to it.
In a plenary meeting led by Deputy House Speaker Tosari Wijaya, the House agreed to set the deficit in the 2004 state budget at Rp 24.4 trillion, accounting for 1.2 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
The 12 objecting legislators urged that the state budget deficit agreed to in the plenary meeting was too large and contradicted Law No.25/2000 on the national development program.
Under the law, the deficit in the 2004 state budget must be lowered to zero percent.
They said the sizable state budget deficit not only showed a lack of consistence on the part of the House to lower it but also would add to the burden of the country's offshore debts and encourage the sale of state assets.
In addition, the 12 legislators also objected to the structure of the state budget, which they considered unfair.
On the one hand, the government continued to slash its subsidies for people in the lower income bracket, while on the other hand, it allocated a sizable amount of funds to the financial and banking sector in favor of business tycoons, they said.
They also complained of low budget allocations for the education and health sectors.
Under the 1945 Constitution, the budget allocations for the two sectors must reach 20 percent of total state spendings, they said.
The 12 legislators came from the House's Reform faction. They included Zulkifli Halim, Muhammadi S, Lutfi Achmad, Mastadi and Tibrani Basri.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Boediono said the newly enacted law would lay a firm basis for the attainment of a self-reliant economy after the country terminates its cooperation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this year.
"The 2004 state budget and the package of economic policies outlined in Presidential Instruction No.5/2003 serve as firm basis for us to pass the transition year 2004 safely," he said. (Antara)
Copyright@2003, Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Canberra