"We hope that all the Bangladeshi refugees can be repatriated in mid-August 2015," Djalius stated here on Wednesday.
He remarked that some 100 refugees who were stranded in Aceh in early May, this year, had complete immigration documents, and therefore, they were flown back to their country of origin from Kuala Namu Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, on Tuesday.
However, he noted that 71 other refugees are still being accommodated in shelters, awaiting a clear demographic data from the Embassy of Bangladesh to Indonesia in Jakarta.
According to Djalius, the repatriation was managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which has been making all the necessary arrangements for providing accommodations.
"The Bangladeshi immigrants will be repatriated gradually, as they are waiting for their documents," he stated.
On June 11, the local authority also repatriated 19 of the 239 Bangladeshi immigrants, who were stranded along with the displaced Rohingyas in North Aceh district.
Lhokseumawe Immigration Office head Akmal remarked that the 19 Bangladeshi nationals were deported by a commercial flight.
"They departed from Lhokseumawe to Medan, North Sumatra. In Medan, the aircraft headed to Malaysia before continuing its flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh," Akmal said.
Akmal noted that the office has received the documents of the 19 foreigners from the Bangladeshi Embassy in Indonesia and will now proceed with the deportation.
Meanwhile, the Embassy is still collecting data of the undocumented Bangladeshi nationals to ascertain their identities.
The Immigration Office can only deport an immigrant if an official travel document is issued by the Embassy, Akmal remarked.
The office will only escort the immigrants to the airport, whereas the flight plan will be managed by the Bangladeshi Government.
A total of 824 refugees belonging to Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities were recently rescued by the Acehnese fishermen from Tamiang and Langsa waters of Aceh Province. Forty-seven of them are being accommodated in Sungai Kurok Tiga Village, Seruway Sub-district, Aceh Tamiang District.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015
