Thousands leave their homes in Aceh on fears of security force
Tuesday, July 18 2000 - 05:00 AM WIB
About 8,000 of villagers from 25 villages in the Tanah Luas district in North Aceh have left their houses and taken a refuge at an open field near the complex of the Mobil Oil gas operation in the area, Kompas reported on Tuesday.
The daily said that the thousands of the residents have left their houses since Sunday and the number of refugees continued to increase. The villagers set up tents in the oilfield, located near the oil company's airstrip, which has been closed for months due to an escalation of armed conflicts between the security officials and the pro-independent movement.
The villagers fled their villages due to a rumor that the government would deploy a security force in their village to protect the company's gas operation and the preparation for the reopening of the airstrip.
Some of the villagers said that they left their houses after their saw security officials built several tents near the small airport.
Superintendent Syafei Aksal, the chief of the police in the district asked the villagers on Monday to return to their houses, saying that the rumor about the deployment of the security force was not true. (*)