T

he Immigration authorities have warned citizens in Medan and surrounding areas to be alert to increasing numbers of undocumented migrants entering North Sumatra.

The Belawan Immigration Detention Center (Rudenim) head Herdaus said the detention center was overcrowded because it could not reject the arrivals of undocumented migrants sent from other areas such as Cilegon, Jember, Madiun, Tasikmalaya, Serang and Sukabumi.

Herdaus said the high number of such migrants in the province had caused many social problems.

He said Belawan Rudenim was designed to house 120 people but there were already 232 undocumented migrants there.

He added that similar conditions were also found in 15 other migrant shelters in Medan.

'€œAs many of the migrant shelters are already overcrowded, many migrants move freely in and out of the shelters,'€ he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

'€œThe public should be aware of this because it is a time bomb.'€

He said during city leadership meetings, a number of district heads often reported that their female residents were sexually harassed and even raped by the migrants.

Herdaus also said many of the individuals married local women but then left after they had children.

'€œMany of our women have yet to realize this. Therefore, parents should monitor how their daughters are socializing,'€ he said.

There were more than 1,000 illegal migrants in 2013, while only about 800 of them in 2012. They are from Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Myanmar, Pakistan, Palestine, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Syria.

Herdaus said most in North Sumatra were looking for better lives in Australia and some had stayed in Medan for years.

Tana from Bangladesh had been living in Medan for nine years, the longest-staying migrant there.

Meanwhile, North Sumatra Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Heru Prakoso admitted too many undocumented aliens were sheltered in the province.

However, the police did not have the authority to monitor the movement of these individuals, he explained.

'€œWe should ask the immigration office if there'€™s many illegal migrants roaming in and out of their shelters, and whether this is the stand operating procedure or not,'€ he said.

Heru added that the police were ready to help the immigration office monitor the undocumented migrants and that there had been such requests submitted by the immigration office.

Mitra Salima Suryono of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said as of Nov. 30, 2013, there were 1,211 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the agency in Medan.

'€œIn the period, 283 of them have been resettled to third countries in Australia and New Zealand,'€ she told the Post on Thursday.

She added UNHCR was attempting to resettle the refugees to third countries while asking them to be patient until the time came for resettlement.