ID :
44173
Wed, 02/04/2009 - 20:44
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/44173
The shortlink copeid
GOVT ADVISED TO INVOLVE UNHCR IN SETTLING BOAT PEOPLE PROBLEM
Banda Aceh, Indonesia, Feb 4 (ANTARA) - Non-governmental organization (NGO) People's Crisis Center (PCC) called on the Indonesian government to involve the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the settlement of the Myanmar boat people problem in Aceh.
"The government should act quickly to overcome the boat people problem in Aceh by giving UNHCR access to them ," PCC director for Aceh, Andi Rizal, said here on Wednesday.
He said the government should also immediately bring up the problem of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Aceh at ASEAN forums because as a member of ASEAN, Myanmar should be responsible for the hundreds of boat people, believed to be Myanmar nationals, who were now in Aceh, he said.
The boat people were found adrift in critical condition in Indonesian waters by Aceh fishermen who had taken them to Sabang on Weh Island and Kuala Idi Rayeuk in East Aceh district.
A fish trader at Kuala Idi Rayeuk, Syahrial, said the boat people arrived at Kuala Idi Rayeuk at 4 on Tuesday morning.
He said the boat people who were presumed to have come from Myanmar were now under the care of local officials.
Some of them were taken to Idi Rayeuk general hospital because they were in extremely weak condition after being adrift at sea for days.
Syahrial said, according to one of the boat people who could speak Malay, there were some 1,200 other people like them traveling in 12 boats in the ocean.
Earlier, Acehnese fishermen also picked up a number of boat people near Weh Island who until now are still being accommodated at the Sabang naval base.
Meawhile, the Jakarta Post said the Foreign Affairs Ministry would send a team to investigate the arrival of 193 boat people in Idu Rayuek.
The ministry's spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, said the team would arrive in Idi Rayeuk on Wednesday to hold interviews with the boat people to clarify their status.
"The government should act quickly to overcome the boat people problem in Aceh by giving UNHCR access to them ," PCC director for Aceh, Andi Rizal, said here on Wednesday.
He said the government should also immediately bring up the problem of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Aceh at ASEAN forums because as a member of ASEAN, Myanmar should be responsible for the hundreds of boat people, believed to be Myanmar nationals, who were now in Aceh, he said.
The boat people were found adrift in critical condition in Indonesian waters by Aceh fishermen who had taken them to Sabang on Weh Island and Kuala Idi Rayeuk in East Aceh district.
A fish trader at Kuala Idi Rayeuk, Syahrial, said the boat people arrived at Kuala Idi Rayeuk at 4 on Tuesday morning.
He said the boat people who were presumed to have come from Myanmar were now under the care of local officials.
Some of them were taken to Idi Rayeuk general hospital because they were in extremely weak condition after being adrift at sea for days.
Syahrial said, according to one of the boat people who could speak Malay, there were some 1,200 other people like them traveling in 12 boats in the ocean.
Earlier, Acehnese fishermen also picked up a number of boat people near Weh Island who until now are still being accommodated at the Sabang naval base.
Meawhile, the Jakarta Post said the Foreign Affairs Ministry would send a team to investigate the arrival of 193 boat people in Idu Rayuek.
The ministry's spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, said the team would arrive in Idi Rayeuk on Wednesday to hold interviews with the boat people to clarify their status.
