Robert Go, Jakarta – As fighting intensifies in Aceh, Indonesia's government plans to start rounding up thousands of civilians in tent camps and intern them for short spells as the military cleanses hot spots of rebel fighters.
The programme could affect villages located within the Pidie, Bireuen and East Aceh regencies within a matter of days and be expanded into other areas in the troubled province according to need and the progress of the military crackdown. Senior officials explained interning villages would enable soldiers to pick through emptied areas with fine-toothed combs in search of members or sympathisers of the Free Aceh Movement, or GAM.
Civilians who are moved to the camps, officials added, would be out of harm's way in the case of gun battles between soldiers and rebels, and be safe from GAM's attempts to use them as human shields against the Indonesian military.
British forces fighting communist guerillas in Malaya during the 1950s used similar tactics and moved thousands of villagers into guarded camps, in part to prevent their enemies from taking shelter amid civilian populations.
Social Affairs Minister Bachtiar Chamsyah, who was the first to speak about Jakarta's plans, said only areas identified as potential GAM hideouts would be affected.
The government has also told Aceh's civilians to carry identification papers at all times, avoid travelling through known trouble spots, and report any suspicious activity or unknown individual to local police and military posts.
The military said its forces have killed 29 GAM rebels since the start of martial law on Monday, while separatist leaders said as many as 50 civilians have died at the hands of Indonesian soldiers.
Mr Marty Natalegawa, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told The Straits Times the government would keep the internment plan, as well as other security arrangements, as non-intrusive as possible to the local population.
He said: "We are not looking at concentration camps. These are meant to ensure the safety and well being of civilians. This programme was designed with the perspective of protecting civilians from GAM forces." Asked if the military would forcibly move those who refuse to be taken off their lands and put into the tent camps, Mr Natalegawa said troops would be persuasive.
The Foreign Ministry official and other government sources declined to give more information on how long internees would be removed from their home areas, or give a more accurate estimate on the number of civilians who could be affected by the plan.
He said: "In the short period of time since our operations began, GAM has targeted civilians. Indonesia would protect these people as long as that is needed." Analysts warned the internment plan, regardless of the Indonesian government's reasons, would be met with resistance by some Acehnese and advised troops to guard against further alienating the local population.
But several said this strategy could work well in containing and isolating many of the reputedly 5,000-strong GAM rebels into known pockets, and ultimately help the Indonesian military's efforts to deal serious blows against the separatist group.