Forkopimda asks UNHCR to immediately move Rohingya refugees outside Sabang City.
Forkopimda asks UNHCR to immediately move Rohingya refugees outside Sabang City.
The Sabang City Regional Leadership Communication Forum (Forkopimda) urges the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to immediately move Rohingya refugees in Sabang City to shelters.
This was due to strong rejection from the entire Sabang community following the arrival of the Second wave of Rohingya refugees totaling 139 people on November 1 2023 at 02.30 WIB in the morning at Tapak Gajah beach, Gampong Ie Meulee, Sukajaya District, Sabang City.
The arrival of Rohingya refugees on Indonesia's westernmost island has led to violent actions by residents to reject their presence in Sabang society.
This can be proven by the fact that the refugees have been moved several times from one gampong (village) to another, but they still give rise to the same rejection.
"From this morning until this afternoon the Sabang City Forkopimda and stakeholders continued to hold Coordination Meetings regarding the handling of these refugees.
"After spending approximately 5 hours holding a very tough meeting, Forkopimda Sabang came to the conclusion of asking UNHCR to immediately move the Rohingya refugees out of the city of Sabang," said Head of Protocol and Communication Division (Prokopim) of the Sabang City Regional Secretariat, Ady Akmal Shiddiq, Tuesday ( 12/5/2023).
Ady Akmal Shiddiq further said that the reason for the transfer had to be carried out because it took into account the situation currently developing in the Sabang community which strongly rejects the presence of Rohingya refugees currently housed in the BPKS CT-1 Port area.
"Responding to the community's attitude of rejecting the presence of Rohingya refugees, we don't want things to get out of control, so it would be best for UNHCR to immediately move them to a previously determined place," stressed the Head of Prokopim.
Until now, the UNHCR contacted by the Sabang City Government admitted that they were still coordinating regarding the movement of the refugees.
The coordination meeting held by the City Government with the Sabang City Forkopimda and other stakeholders in the Sabang Mayor's working meeting room on the third floor is still waiting for further confirmation from UNHCR Indonesia.
