They gathered in front of the UNHCR representative office in the city apparently seeking to attract international attention after being left idle for years in their temporary accommodation place here.
Medan (ANTARA News) - Tens of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar staged a protest here on Thursday demanding the United Nation Higher Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) send them immediately to any countries willing to accept them such as Australia.

They gathered in front of the UNHCR representative office in the city apparently seeking to attract international attention after being left idle for years in their temporary accommodation place here.

One of the protesters Zaid Husein (28) said he could not understand that the UNHCR representative in Medan had shown no concern with the fate of the refugees.

Zaid said they had been fed up with waiting after years, some have been hoping for over four years to be sent to Australia or any countries willing to accept them .

"We are very disappointed with the UNHCR," he said, adding "we hope we could immediately leave our temporary accommodations in Indonesia."

The protester raised banners but they moved peacefully and returned to their temporary accommodation at Hotel Pelangi at Jalan Jamin Ginting in the city.

Late last month , 63 new Rohingya refugees from Myanmar were found stranded in the sea on board a wooden boat off East Aceh.

The authorities sent them to Belawan, the port city of Medan, North Sumatra and put in the Immigration detention house .

The International Organization for Migrants (IOM) and the United Nation Higher Commission for Refugee (UNHCR) took them and placed them in the Medan Immigration Detention House.

They stay at the place mixing with many other refugees or illegal immigrants from other countries .

Based on official data in June 2012, there were more than 130 foreign nationals at the Medan Immigration Detention Houses. Among them were 48 from Afghanistan, 4 from Bangledesh, 7 from Sri Lanka 3 from Pakistan, 54 from Myanmar and 4 from Somalia and 2 from Thailand.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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