Agreement
Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding, 2005
GAM abandoned its independence goal for self-government within Indonesia, ending the insurgency.
What happened
The 26 December 2004 tsunami devastated Aceh and helped revive peace talks; on 15 August 2005, the Indonesian government and GAM signed the Helsinki MoU, under which GAM abandoned independence for self-government within Indonesia.[1][2]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
-
1.
Claim: The 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami devastated Aceh province, killing an estimated 170,000 residents there and leaving 500,000 homeless; the shared humanitarian crisis brought the Indonesian government and GAM back to negotiations with renewed resolve to end the conflict.
- INDONESIA: The Aceh Peace Agreement (Council on Foreign Relations) link, The 2004 Tsunami's Impact section. Source record
-
2.
Claim: On 15 August 2005, following negotiations that began on 27 January 2005, representatives of the Indonesian government and GAM signed the Helsinki Memorandum of Understanding; the agreement became possible after GAM announced in February 2005 that it would set aside its goal of independence in favour of "self-government" for Aceh within Indonesia, in exchange for concessions including the right to form local political parties, alongside provisions for GAM's disarmament and its members' reintegration into society.
- INDONESIA: The Aceh Peace Agreement (Council on Foreign Relations) link, Path to the Helsinki Agreement and The 2005 Agreement sections. Source record