Abstract
This chapter first provides the historical narrative of the Acehnese ethnic conflict in Indonesia which saw two insurgent organisations emerging in different periods of post-independence Indonesia and struggling for ethnic secessionism causing three waves of violent flare-up. The chapter then focuses on the struggle of the second group, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and identifies three fundamental incompatibilities that the struggle represents: (1) GAM’s claim for independence and Jakarta’s need to maintain the territorial integrity of the Indonesian state; (2) GAM’s demand for a UN-supervised referendum on the future of Aceh and Jakarta’s objective of promoting all-inclusive dialogue involving all elements of Acehnese society, as the means to articulate the collective will of the Acehnese people; and (3) Acehnese grievances over the control of natural resources in the province by the national government, especially oil and natural gas and the latter’s need to pursue the economic development of Indonesia by exploiting these resources. The chapter then examines how conflicting parties conducted themselves for the dissolution of the incompatibilities. The national government gradually shifted from hardline to softline approaches as lessons were learnt accumulatively from its mistakes. As the conflict became more and more internationalised, Jakarta switched from containing the conflict within national boundaries to seeking international help and expertise for the final settlement of the conflict.
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Notes
- 1.
A reference to Islam was removed from the Preamble (so-called “Jakarta Declaration”) of a draft Indonesian constitution on 18 August 1945 after a long debate between the nationalists and the Islamists. See, Elson (2009: 120–123).
- 2.
The presence of the Acehnese community in Malaysia was a “sanctuary” for GAM leaders to spread their ideology and solicited support either from fellow Acehnese or local Malaysians, although they faced the risks of detention and deportation to Indonesia at the hands of the Malaysian authorities, which showed the “ASEAN solidarity” with Indonesia on the Aceh issue.
- 3.
There arose the issue of the composition of the mission. GAM preferred a UN-led AMM, which was however anahema to Jakarta due to the national trauma of the UN-supervised referendum in East Timor in August 1999 and its results. It was natural that ASEAN would be involved as part of an international solution to the Aceh conflict. However, while Jakarta was comfortable with this idea, GAM was concerned about the neutrality of ASEAN, which was known to have little sympathy with or tolerance for any separatist movement within its domain. Then, using his international reputation and connection, mediator Ahtisaari brought in the EU. GAM welcomed its involvement, which Jakarta found more acceptable than UN’s participation. See, Morfit (2007b: 138).
- 4.
For a detailed assessment of the implementation of the Helsinki MOU 2005, see Crisis Management Initiative (2012).
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Baikoeni, E.Y., Oishi, M. (2016). Ending a Long-Standing Intrastate Conflict Through Internationalisation: The Case of Aceh in Indonesia. In: Oishi, M. (eds) Contemporary Conflicts in Southeast Asia. Asia in Transition, vol 3. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0042-3_2
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