The most desperate are forced into lives of begging, prostitution and crime. But it's not just individuals who are suffering. Our dream of the Indonesian nation may be gone. But Prasodjo says the aid is always late, and at least some of it is lost through corruption. Indeed, in many camps, the cash flow has stopped and the rice is delivered only haphazardly, say social workers.
Social workers say the reshuffles have brought confusion.
But Emil Agustiono, chief of the Crisis Centre at the Health and Social Welfare Ministry, counters that the changes have only been at the top, while front-line officials have remained unchanged. Increasingly, the uprooted Indonesians rely on foreign organizations for help. But, apart from the East Timorese, they are not regarded as true refugees as they have not fled their own country, which means the United Nations is unable to do much. To improve aid distribution and monitoring of the refugees' plight, sociologist Prasodjo wants the government to establish a commission for the internally displaced. But the government has not heeded his proposal.