One of their methods is to drive villagers into squalid refugee camps, hoping to garner world attention that may force Jakarta to pull out its troops. In Timor itself, meanwhile, the army's activities call into question whether Indonesia's generals will ever yield supremacy to civilian authorities. I ndonesia's generals never worried much about southern Aceh. Compared to the northern coast, where a separatist movement has flared for decades, the lushly forested south had always appeared a pliable partner in the republic. As rebel activity spreads across the province, police in Aceh's southern Trumon subdistrict now search passing cars for weapons.
Farmers talk eagerly of independence in an Islamic state.
Free Aceh, however, offers a risky alternative. By playing on popular fears of the army, the rebels are inciting tens of thousands of villagers to flee their homes for refugee camps as showcase victims of military repression. By creating a refugee crisis, Free Aceh hopes to gain international sympathy for its cause. Malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases are spreading in the squalid camps while children are deprived of schooling. Instead, the rebels submit the villagers to political indoctrination, and prevent most of them from returning home, according to interviews with refugees, students and rebels.