Jakarta – Hundreds of activists of the Aceh Referendum Information Center (SIRA) held a rally in front of the Dutch Embassy on Wednesday to demand that the Dutch government return Aceh to the Acehnese.

The protesters started arriving at 1 a.m. and occupied the slow lane in front of the embassy building on Jl. HR Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta.

They prayed, sang songs and made speeches, urging the Dutch to rectify the history of Aceh by giving the Acehnese the right to determine their own fate, Antara reported.

Faisal Saifudin, head of the Jakarta chapter of SIRA, said the return of Aceh into the Republic of Indonesia in 1949 was illegal because Aceh had been at war with the Dutch since March 26, 1873.

The Dutch, he said, should have returned Aceh to the Acehnese. SIRA therefore urged the Dutch government through its embassy here and the United Nations to interfere in the conflict betweenthe people of Aeh and the government of Indonesia by holding a referendum.

Faisal said the protesters who came from Greater Jakarta and other parts of Java will continue their sit-in at the embassy until their demands are met. The protest went peacefully. A company of policemen was seen guarding the site.