The Molluccas: Moslem refugees also face appalling conditions
Moslem refugees thrown out of their homes by sectarian fighting are facing the same squalid living conditions as their Christian counterparts, missionaries reported at the weekend. A group of Christians visiting a refugee camp in Waihaong, near the capital Ambon, found several thousand people living in 'appalling' conditions. The visitors, who included the Muslim wife of the Molluccan governor and a Catholic nun, Sister Brigita Renyaan, who works at the diocesan crisis centre, said there were drastic food shortages and extremely unhygienic conditions. The group said families are crammed into small shelters and forced to cook and sleep in the same place. When rain falls, the makeshift roofs leak badly and all clothing and bedding becomes saturated. The observers reported that the plight of the Moslem refugees was just the same as that of those in Christian refugee camps.