We have deployed a team from the Directorate of Social Protection for Social Disaster Victims (PSKBS) and another from the Directorate of Social Rehabilitation
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Social Affairs has provided logistical and psychosocial assistance to refugees who originally occupied the sidewalks of Jalan Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta. They have been partially transferred to the Islamic Center in North Jakarta and the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Building on Jalan Kebon Sirih.

"We have deployed a team from the Directorate of Social Protection for Social Disaster Victims (PSKBS) and another from the Directorate of Social Rehabilitation," Social Affairs Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said in Jakarta on Thursday.

The government should provide assistance so that the presence of the refugees does not cause any social problems in society, he said.

Indonesia has provided humanitarian assistance to refugees from Afghanistan and other countries, Edi Suharto, Director General of Social Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said.

"We will take care of them, and our focus is especially on their children. We provide services based on the regulations. Suharto remarked.

Meanwhile, teams from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Jakarta Social Department have been deployed to monitor the transfer of asylum seekers to the Jakarta Legislative Council (DPRD) Building and Islamic Center, Director General of Social Protection and Social Security at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Harry Hikmat said.

"We provide food assistance at the request of the Jakarta Social Affairs Department," Hikmat said.

As many as 241 refugees from countries such as Somalia, Sudan and Afghanistan occupied the sidewalks of Jalan Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta in front of and opposite the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees / UNHCR in the past week.

Until Thursday, some asylum seekers were still gathering on the sidewalk, sitting on boards or tarpaulins. Some of them had also put up tents.

Indonesia has become a temporary transit point for asylum seekers before the UNHCR determines a third country that will accommodate them.


Translator: Desi / Azis Kurmala
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2019