I think,the clash of this chauvisnism will eventually come. Most of the aid come from "the infidel" aren't they?
For me it is just too bad, that Muslim as a good religion, it is being interpreted by half cook people to suit their own agenda instead for the good of the follower.
Just too many examples of this skewed minded people under the banner of religion, abusing the universal human rights and take law into their own hands. Too bad for those at the receiving ends,usually people in the minority bearing the brunts of this thugs.
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Don't convert our children, Muslim group warns
By Sarah Price and Lindsay Murdoch in Banda Aceh
January 9, 2005
The Sun-Herald
The arrival of an Australian Catholic priest in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh has sparked a warning from a hardline Islamic group not to try to convert Muslim children.
Father Chris Riley, who heads the charity Youth Off The Streets, arrived in Aceh on Friday with plans to set up an orphanage to house some of the reported 35,000 Acehnese children whose parents are dead or missing.
But yesterday radical Islamic Defenders Front chief Hilmy Bakar Almascaty warned him to stick purely to humanitarian work in Aceh, the only Indonesian province to have fully implemented Muslim sharia law.
Father Riley said yesterday he had no interest in converting those he helped to Christianity. He said his charity was non-denominational and even had Muslims working in it.
"There is no religious component to any of our programs," he said.
There is extreme sensitivity in the largely Muslim region to any suggestion of a Christian organisation running an orphanage because of the fear it could convert the children.
Radical Islamic groups, some accused of links to terrorism, have moved supporters from all over Indonesia to Aceh to "make their presence felt" in the disaster zone.
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Muslim groups in Aceh plan to set up their own orphanage for 1000 children, prompting criticism from foreign aid workers.
The Indonesian Government has given the go-ahead for the orphanage, to be set up by Muhammadiyah, the country's second-largest Muslim group, on the outskirts of devastated Banda Aceh, where more than 50,000 people died on Boxing Day.
Muhammadiyah's vice-chairman Din Syamsuddin, told The Sun-Herald yesterday his group estimated that 15,000 Acehnese children up to the age of 15 were orphaned in the disaster.
After Father Riley spent a day on the ground in Banda Aceh, his plan to set up a tent orphanage appears to have been put on hold while needs for the region are assessed.
Hoping to help: Father Riley yesterday.
Photo: Kate Geraghty (Sydney Morning Herald - 8 Jan 05)
After seeing that parts of the city were operating normally and with aid appearing to flow to children in need, his charity might look at directing its aid elsewhere.
Father Riley said the charity would put the funds where they were most needed by the victims. That might include help with orphans in more remote areas.
Father Riley arrived in Banda Aceh with state Member for Bankstown Tony Stewart. Mr Stewart phoned Father Riley in the days following the tsunami disaster asking what he was going to do to help the victims.
Father Riley said initially he felt there was nothing he could do, thinking his charity was too small.
But after the phone call he turned on the television to see an interview with a doctor, who was looking after children, only to find that, after their medical needs were taken care of, they were discharged, leaving them with nowhere to go.
"Homeless kids, that's my core business," Father Riley said. Mr Stewart was then able to secure a $100,000 donation from Clubs NSW, which was given to the charity last Monday.
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