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Residents tell HIV-positive orphans to leave Samosir
The three HIV-positive children are currently under immense pressure, according to HKBP AIDS Committee executive secretary Berlina Sibagariang.
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Three HIV-positive orphans face the threat of being driven out of Samosir regency, North Sumatra, by residents who fear they may get infected with the virus. (Shutterstock/File)
T
hree HIV-positive orphans face the threat of being driven out of Samosir regency, North Sumatra, by residents who fear they may get infected with the virus.
Ahmad Ramadhan, head of the North Sumatra chapter of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Prevention Commission (KPA), said the ultimatum had been made on Oct. 19 by the Nainggolan community, which had given the children — all of whom are under the age of 12 — seven days to leave the regency.
“If the children refuse to leave, the community will force them out using their own methods. This is inhumane,” Ahmad told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The three children, who are currently under the care of the Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) AIDS Committee, are originally from Balige in Toba Samosir regency. They moved to Samosir earlier this year.
Ahmad lamented the residents’ warning, particularly because they had accepted two HIV-positive children from North Tapanuli last year.
“Why can’t they accept [the three children] this year?” he said.
HKBP AIDS Committee executive secretary Berlina Sibagariang also regretted the community’s refusal, saying that the three children were currently under immense pressure.
“They are not allowed to go to school and now face expulsion from Samosir,” Berlina said, adding that the committee was working to assist the three children and lobby the local community so they could remain on the island.
After mediation involving school management, the local community and the Samosir regency administration, it was suggested that the children be homeschooled. Berlina disagreed, however, saying that homeschooling would only further isolate them.
“We don’t have the right to prevent them from going to school. How can we do that to orphans?” she said. (kuk/swd)
