We now need to pay attention to the urgency of increasing Indonesia's contribution in the humanitarian field to fulfill the educational needs of child refugeesJakarta (ANTARA) - The National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) supports efforts to provide education to foreign child refugees in Indonesia to fulfill their rights.
"BRIN and the government are responsible for easing the burden and fulfilling the educational needs," Head of the Political Research Center of BRIN, Firman Noor, noted in his statement, Tuesday.
Noor pointed to a link between democracy and human rights, with the opportunity for child refugees to access education. This practice will have a better impact on Indonesia's position at the global level.
A country's involvement in meeting the needs of child refugees signifies a good position at the global level, Noor affirmed.
"We now need to pay attention to the urgency of increasing Indonesia's contribution in the humanitarian field to fulfill the educational needs of child refugees," he emphasized.
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Indonesia has signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child 1989 (UNCRC).
Hence, Indonesia should protect child refugees, with the obligation of fulfilling the rights of children as stipulated in the articles written in the UNCRC, he pointed out.
The latest data indicated that there are 13,459 refugees in Indonesia, with an estimated 27 percent of them being child refugees and 114 of them that came alone or were separated from their families.
The main researcher of the BRIN Political Research Center, Tri Nuke Pudjiastuti, stated that fulfillment of the rights of child refugees, especially in education, is contained in Presidential Decree No. 36 of 1990 on the ratification of the UNCRC.
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The decree demonstrates a strong commitment to fulfilling children's rights without discrimination and ensuring the principle that the best interests of children are upheld.
The fulfillment of the right to education for child refugees can be interpreted as a form of meeting international legal obligations as a country that has ratified the convention on the rights of children at the United Nations (UN).
A mutual understanding of the child refugees' rights also should be accepted by both the government and the community to support the efforts to provide education to child refugees.
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Translator: Martha H, Resinta S
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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