TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Island in focus: Binjai will not ostracize Gafatar members
The Binjai municipality on Thursday promised to rehabilitate Gafatar members even though the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued an edict calling the group heretical
Change Size
T
he Binjai municipality on Thursday promised to rehabilitate Gafatar members even though the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) has issued an edict calling the group heretical.
Binjai mayor's office spokesman Hendrik Tambunan said the MUI edict declaring Gafatar members as deviant did not impact efforts to rehabilitate them. Hendrik said 32 Binjai residents had been identified as Gafatar members.
He added the Gafatar members were currently in Boyolali, Surakarta, Central Java, waiting for their scheduled repatriation to North Sumatra.
'We will not ostracize them when they arrive in Binjai later. Despite the MUI edict, we will treat them just like other residents. We have even prepared counseling programs and will provide them with living allowances,' Hendrik said.
As many as 301 Gafatar members from North Sumatra, including Binjai, are scheduled to return home via Belawan Port soon.
