Aceh 10 Years After the Tsunami

BANDA ACEH, ACEH, INDONESIA - 2014/06/06: Goats graze above the dust of 14,800 nameless dead. None of the corpses were identified before they were put in the ground as the numbers were too high and risk of infection would be imminent. The tsunami of December 2004 was as deadly as the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki together; but at the same time paved the way for peace in Indonesia. Inspired by Swedish social democracy, Aceh is now trying to build a functional society over the rubble left by the tsunami, however, the trauma left by the wave can still be seen 10 years later in many aspects of life. Many of those who survived the devastation were given compensation in the form of houses and aid from international organisations. However, there are still some families left in the former IDP refugee camps who have settled in permanently due to the promising of aid that never came. The tsunami did however, indirectly bring about peace and a new government as it ended the movement that started in 1976 to free Aceh, called the GAM rebellion against the central government in Jakarta. In the peace negotiations that followed the tsunami, Aceh was given regional autonomy, the first region in Indonesian allowed to set up local political parties and impose local laws. It remains forbidden to hoist GAMs former flag. Aceh is also believed to be one of the first regions in Indonesia to convert to Islam and have also introduced Sharia law and corporal punishment for multiple offenses. (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BANDA ACEH, ACEH, INDONESIA - 2014/06/06: Goats graze above the dust of 14,800 nameless dead. None of the corpses were identified before they were put in the ground as the numbers were too high and risk of infection would be imminent. The tsunami of December 2004 was as deadly as the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki together; but at the same time paved the way for peace in Indonesia. Inspired by Swedish social democracy, Aceh is now trying to build a functional society over the rubble left by the tsunami, however, the trauma left by the wave can still be seen 10 years later in many aspects of life. Many of those who survived the devastation were given compensation in the form of houses and aid from international organisations. However, there are still some families left in the former IDP refugee camps who have settled in permanently due to the promising of aid that never came. The tsunami did however, indirectly bring about peace and a new government as it ended the movement that started in 1976 to free Aceh, called the GAM rebellion against the central government in Jakarta. In the peace negotiations that followed the tsunami, Aceh was given regional autonomy, the first region in Indonesian allowed to set up local political parties and impose local laws. It remains forbidden to hoist GAMs former flag. Aceh is also believed to be one of the first regions in Indonesia to convert to Islam and have also introduced Sharia law and corporal punishment for multiple offenses. (Photo by Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Aceh 10 Years After the Tsunami
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Credit:
Jonas Gratzer / Contributor
Editorial #:
455288756
Collection:
LightRocket
Date created:
06 June, 2014
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Source:
LightRocket
Object name:
_DSC5573