BAN LIFTED, FOREIGN AID WORKERS ARRIVE

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta 12/30/2004

Foreign humanitarian workers have come to the rescue of the people in Aceh, who are desperate for aid following the quake and tidal waves that have killed more than 37,000 in the war-ravaged province.

Dozens of volunteers from various countries, including Malaysia, Australia, Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, arrived in Aceh on Wednesday to help Indonesian rescue and health workers distribute food and medicine, provide health care, erect tents for refugees and evacuate rotten bodies scattered around towns across the province.

They also brought body bags and other necessities, and will work in coordination with the Aceh disaster mitigation agency.

Their entry to Aceh was made possible after the government declared Aceh open for foreign humanitarian workers.

Vice President Jusuf Kalla said that the government had simplified procedures for the volunteers to obtain a visa-on-arrival for a one-month stay at destination airports, especially in Medan and Banda Aceh.

Jakarta extended the state of civil emergency for another six months in November, keeping foreigners from the province, which has seen a military operation to crush separatists since May 2003.

Human rights groups hailed the government's new policy of easing restrictions on foreign relief workers.

More volunteers are still in demand, judging from the extensive impact of the catastrophe.

Zaenal Abidin General Hospital in Banda Aceh alone requires at least 200 more doctors and 600 other medical workers.