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Regions help residents flee Papua following deadly riot
Administrations are assisting people hailing from their respective regions leave conflict-ridden Wamena in Papua, following a deadly riot on Sept. 23 that claimed at least 33 lives.
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Evacuees wait their turn to board an Indonesian Military aircraft at Wamena Airport in Jayawijaya regency on Sept. 28, following a deadly riot on Sept. 23. (Antara/Iwan Adisaputra)
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number of government administrations are busy assisting people hailing from their respective regions who are fleeing conflict-ridden Wamena in Papua, following a deadly riot on Sept. 23 that claimed at least 33 lives, mostly non-Papuans.
The North Sumatra administration, for example, has set up a team tasked with evacuating its people from Wamena.
North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi said the team, which was under the coordination of the North Sumatra Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD), would depart for Wamena in the near future.
“We want the team to start working soon so that North Sumatrans living in Wamena can be evacuated in a timely manner to prevent undesirable things from happening,” Edy said at his office on Tuesday.
He added that his side was coordinating with various parties in Papua to airlift people, adding that some of the people affected had been contacted. So far three North Sumatrans living in Wamena have been transported to Rindam near Lake Sentani, Papua. Another is being prepared for relocation.
Maruntung Sihombing of North Sumatra, who currently lives in Wamena, said he wanted to be relocated as soon as possible because the situation in the city was extremely tense.
“We hope the government will help with our homecoming to North Sumatra,” said Maruntung.
