UNHCR Urged to Handle Rohingya Refugees in Indonesia

Lhokseumawe (Antara Bali) - The student wing of the Pancasila youth organization (SAPMA) urged the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) here to tend to the Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees being sheltered in East Aceh District, Aceh Province.

Deputy Chairman of the SAPMA-Langsa Chapter Zainal Rauf stated that the UNHCR is responsible for handling the refugee problems in various states, including Indonesia, by facilitating the placement of those displaced in third countries.

"Therefore, we call on the UNHCR representatives in Indonesia to come to Aceh and identify the Rohingya and Bangladeshi refugees who were stranded in the sea and were rescued by the Acehnese fishermen," he noted.

In connection with the UNHCRs responsibility, Rauf remarked that the Aceh provincial government needs to talk to the representatives of this UN body in Indonesia about the Rohingya refugee problem, so that they can immediately address the case.

"The Aceh provincial government needs to establish direct contact with the UNHCR because the only people, who have been in the refugee camps, including the ones in Kuala Langsa, East Aceh, are those from the International Organization for Migration (IOM)," he emphasized.

However, both the UNHCR and IOM are actually responsible for handling this matter, he pointed out.

A total of 824 refugees belonging to Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities were recently rescued by the Acehnese fishermen from Tamiang and Langsa waters of Aceh Province. Forty-seven of them are being accommodated in Sungai Kurok Tiga Village, Seruway Sub-district, Aceh Tamiang District.

Besides them, 500 other Rohingya refugees who got stranded in North Aceh Districts waters last week have been sent to shelters in Meunasah Sagoe Village, Seunuddon Sub-district.(WDY)