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Doctors continue to serve in Papua after colleague’s death in Wamena
Doctors have been asked to wear their white coats and carry identity cards while traveling. More doctors will be sent to Papua.
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Ambulances prepare to evacuate the bodies of construction workers believed to have been shot dead in Wamena, Papua, on Dec. 4, 2018. Dozens of road construction workers were killed a massacre blamed on rebel groups in the province. (AFP/Manuel)
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octors serving in Papua and West Papua have said they will continue to stay in the restive provinces despite the death of their colleague during unrest in Wamena.
A deadly riot in Wamena, the administrative seat of Jayawijaya regency, killed at least 33 people on Sept. 23, one of them identified as physician Soeko Marsetiyo, 53, who had been visiting the area at the time.
Soeko has been working as a doctor in Tolikara regency for the past five years. The regency is located around 150 km from Wamena.
The death of Soeko and other civilians has caused fear among residents of Wamena. Thousands have fled the area.
It not only evoked sorrow in the doctors’ community in Papua and West Papua but has also prompted some of them to reconsider their safety amid growing tensions in the two easternmost provinces of Indonesia, which have an acute shortage of doctors and health facilities.
“We condemn the murder of our fellow doctor in Wamena, Papua, who has been serving the [province] for years,” said Ari Fahrial Syam, dean of the University of Indonesia’s (UI) School of Medicine.
He said what happened in Wamena had not weakened the resolve of doctors in Papua to serve wholeheartedly every patient.
