After Coordination With UNHCR, DPRA Proposes 6 Shelters For Rohingya Refugees In Aceh

The ship containing Rohingya refugees was stranded in the Aceh Besar party area. (Between-Ampelsa)

JAKARTA - Commission I of the Aceh House of Representatives (DPRA) proposed to the Central Government regarding six locations for temporary shelters for Rohingya refugees in Aceh.

"There are six places that can be used, namely in Blang Adoe North Aceh, BLK Lhokseumawe, Mina Raya and Kulee Pidie, Bireuen, and East Aceh," said Secretary of Commission I of the DPRA, Yahdi Hasan, in Banda Aceh, Wednesday, August 21, confiscated by Antara.

Yahdi Hasan made this statement after holding a coordination meeting on the handling of Rohingya refugees with elements of the Aceh, IOM and UNHCR Governments as well as other community organizations, at the Banda Aceh DPRA Building.

Yahdi said the coordination meeting had agreed on two matters related to the handling of Rohingya refugees.

First, his party immediately wrote a letter to the Central Government to revise Presidential Decree 125 of 2016 concerning the handling of foreign refugees, because Presidential Regulation 125 does not allow regions to help Rohingya refugees use the regional budget, because the main task is the Central Government.

Second, the Central Government, Aceh Province, and districts/cities will appoint a temporary shelter for Rohingya refugees from several locations.

"Of the six places recommended to the Aceh Government, later there will be three temporary shelter locations for refugees. It is possible that the location is in Blang Adoe, North Aceh. Only today the government (North Aceh) has not been able to convince its people to accept Rohingya refugees," he said.

Regarding Rohingya refugees who come to Aceh, the public still assesses a loss, and only adds to the problem for Aceh, therefore the government needs to create and invite people to think Rohingya refugees to Aceh can be a positive value for Aceh, both in the eyes of the world and the economy.

"Because they will also live there later, then side by side with the community. Of course they also need food, there are IOM and UNHCR who become donors of them to live there," said Yahdi Hasan.

On this occasion, he also thanked IOM, UNHCR, Aceh Government, and districts/cities for helping them humanely.

"As Acehnese people and carry out Islamic law, I think humanity has been given. And we have done this starting from 2006, more than seven thousand refugees came to Aceh," said Yahdi.

For information, based on UNHCR data, the number of Rohingya refugees in Aceh currently reaches 847 people, spread across five districts/cities.

Among them, in Kulee, North Aceh Regency, 161 people, Mina Raya Pidie Regency 213 people, Bireuen Regency three people, Lhokseumawe City 370 people, and Kuala Perlak, East Aceh Regency 100 people.