Minneapolis, Minnesota, August 1, 2000
- American Refugee Committee President Anthony Kozlowski met with Indonesian
President Abdurrahman Wahid in Jakarta to discuss the urgent needs of nearly
800,000 people displaced throughout Indonesia due to ethnic, religious
and political conflict.
"President Wahid thanked ARC and
the international community for the humanitarian assistance provided and
requested further help in finding long-term solutions to the problems,"
said Kozlowski, who met with President Wahid and other government officials
last week during an assessment mission to Indonesia.
He was accompanied by Gary Dahl, ARC Southeast Asia regional representative and Thailand country director, who has worked for ARC in Southeast Asia since 1988.
ARC, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has been providing health care and related assistance since fall 1999 to some of the 120,000 people who fled or were forced from East Timor following the vote for independence.
"While President Wahid acknowledged constraints the government had in dealing with this population, he expressed hope that those who are displaced from East Timor would be able to repatriate soon," Kozlowski said.
Other parts of the archipelago, such as the Moluccan Islands, also face urgent humanitarian needs. Longstanding problems in Aceh, Irian Jaya, Sulawesi and West Kalimantan require sustained assistance to the affected populations, reconstruction of damaged or destroyed buildings and reconciliation of conflicting groups.
The American Refugee Committee is an international nonprofit, nonsectarian organization providing multisectoral humanitarian assistance and training to hundreds of thousands of people in Africa, Asia and Europe.
NOTE: ARC President and CEO Anthony Kozlowski will return to ARC headquarters in Minneapolis on Wednesday, August 2. To schedule an interview, please call Suzanne Perry at 1-612-607-6481, suzannep@archq.org. Gary Dahl will also be available for interviews from August 2 in Bangkok, (662) 252-5186., arcthai@ksc.net.th.