The European Union will question the Indonesian government about a "disturbing" lack of access to war-torn Aceh province after one of its aid workers was detained there overnight, a diplomat said.
"It is really disturbing that we face such a situation of access," said Ulrich Eckle, a political counsellor in Jakarta for the EU's executive arm, the European Commission (EC). "I think we will have to take it up with the government," he said, adding that European Union member states would be briefed later Friday.
Eckle told AFP that Karin Michotte, a Belgian aid worker, was taken into custody soon after she arrived in Aceh on Tuesday even though she had an authorisation letter from the social affairs ministry to visit.
"She spent the night in quasi-detention at an immigration facility in a cell," he said. "The door was left open and she could go out and make phone calls but she could not go back to her hotel till the next morning and had to report three or four times to the army.
Aceh was placed under martial law when a major military operation was launched on May 19 against separatist rebels. Eckle said it appeared that local authorities decided what was needed in the way of permits.
He said Michotte had been able to meet some non-governmental organisations and United Nations agencies in Aceh and found "quite a number of disturbing things." "These agencies are effectively cut off, with one or two exceptions, from the people.
"They have to sign papers that they will have no contact with local people, which compromises all professionality, and once they leave [Aceh] they are not allowed to return." Eckle said the restrictions on access were "quite unprecedented." Some UN aid groups were being obliged to travel in army trucks, which was completely against humanitarian rules, he said.
He said Michotte had been unable to assess aid needs and without this it would not be possible to extend aid through the EC Humanitarian Office. "We can't just load relief goods on army trucks, we need to be independent." Eckle said there were indications of humanitarian problems with many people apparently forced from their homes in conflict areas into refugee camps.
He said he had heard there was still a lack of water for washing in the camps and many people with respiratory problems. "If it goes on there might be a risk of epidemics, quite apart from the trauma for families." Indonesia says it is moving civilians for their own safety. Between 30,000 and 40,000 people have left their homes.
An order issued last month by martial law rulers bans foreign tourists from Aceh and severely restricts the operations of foreign aid workers and local and foreign journalists. Some foreign media reports of rights abuses by troops have angered the military.