The United Nations refugee agency will withdraw from tsunami-ravaged Aceh province tomorrow three months ahead of schedule, according to an agency official.
Robert Ashe, regional representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said today the agency had planned to stay in Aceh for six months, and that some $33 million (€25 million) in unused funds would either be refunded to donors or transferred to other agencies.
The Indonesian government had put pressure on the agency to pull out. "Clearly it's their country, it's their people, and they have the right to decide," he said.
He said staff who had been posted along Aceh's west coast, hardest hit by the December 26th earthquake and tsunami, had already been pulled out and those in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, would leave on March 25,th a day ahead of a government deadline.
"I think for them it is a personal disappointment because they feel there is more work to be done," he said.
A UNHCR statement on the pull-out said the agency would be happy to return if invited.
"UNHCR understands the government's desire to review and rationalise the huge humanitarian effort in Aceh as it now prepares for the next important stage - long-term reconstruction," it said.
The UNHCR had been working with other agencies to help feed and shelter many of the half-million Indonesians who lost their homes in the tsunami disaster. More than 220,000 Indonesians were killed or are still missing.
The Indonesian government had set a target of March 26th for foreign aid agencies not contributing to reconstruction to leave, but the policy was eased last week.
It said the move to reduce the number of aid agencies - some 150 groups remain in the province - was necessary to consolidate efforts and provide security.
A separatist insurgency has raged in Aceh for three decades, with both rebels and government troops accused of severe human rights violations.
Despite the extended deadline, the Indonesian minister put in charge of Aceh after the December disaster said today the UN refugee agency and the International Organisation of Migration were no longer needed.