Pekanbaru City Government Discusses Plans Of Shelter For 114 Rohingya Refugees

Head of the Pekanbaru City Kesbangpol Agency, Zulfahmi Adrin/Photo: Antara

PEKANBARU - Head of the Pekanbaru City Kesbangpol Agency Zulfahmi Adrin said that his party will soon hold a meeting with the Pekanbaru City Forkompimda to discuss the recommendations of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs regarding the handling of 114 Rohingya refugees who were stranded in Jangka Subdistrict, Bireuen Regency, Aceh.

"Today we met with the Forkompimda to discuss the letter from the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs regarding the appointment of Pekanbaru as a shelter for the 114 Rohingya refugees," said Zulfahmi Adrin on the sidelines of socializing the handling of refugees from abroad in Pekanbaru City based on Presidential Regulation Number 125 of 2016 concerning Handling Refugees from Overseas, followed by 50 participants for the 2022 fiscal year, in Pekanbaru, Monday, March 28.

He said that based on the meeting, the decision would be known. If they are accepted, steps for their acceptance will be prepared and if they are rejected, the reasons for their refusal will be presented.

He said that the appointment of Pekanbaru as a temporary shelter for Rohingya refugees was more because the Aceh City Government did not have immigration detention centers (rudenim), which were only in Medan and Pekanbaru City.

"So this is a state order and if the Pekanbaru City Government refuses, of course, the reasons need to be explained," he said, quoted by Antara.

Previously, the 114 Rohingya refugees were placed in the multipurpose hall of the local sub-district office, after the incident of three Rohingya who failed to escape from the previous shelter location.

The sub-district head of Jangka, Bireuen Regency previously said that the Rohingya refugees were in good health and no one was seriously ill and worried.

Of the 114 Rohingya refugees, there were 68 adult men, 21 adult women and 35 children.