Instability in Aceh is more due to high rate of unemployment

The people's resentment against industrial activities in Aceh, such as that taking place in ExxonMobil is due to the high number of the unemployment rather than due to other factors, according to a senior official of the local trade and industry office.

Djamil Usman, the head of the province's trade and industry office, said in Banda Aceh on Friday that the number of fresh graduates in the province had grown sharply in recent years while the job opportunities in the industrial sector are limited.

According to him, the number of the unemployed graduates has reached over 10,000 people. Many of them open small business or work as farmers to survive. "Some others went to neighboring Malaysia to find jobs," he told Kompas in an interview.

He said that the use of the military to solve the security problem in the province would fail because the core reason, which causes the instability, is not really due to the people's idealism to gain independence from Indonesia but due to the lack of the opportunities given to the locals to benefit from the province's economy.

Anti-government sentiment is growing in the province as the Aceh Free Movement, which has for years fought for independence, continued to spread their separation idea to the younger generation. (*)