Dozens of visually impaired students were forced to vacate their dormitory at the center last Tuesday in what the students described as a sudden eviction. They were forced to spend the night on a sidewalk in front of the rehabilitation center on Jl. Pajajaran.
fter being forced to spend four nights on a sidewalk, dozens of visually impaired students were allowed to return to their dormitory at the Wyata Guna Social Rehabilitation Center for the Blind (BRSPDSN) in Bandung, West Java, over the weekend.
An agreement for their return was reached on Saturday following negotiations taking place a day earlier between representatives of the students as well as the Social Affairs Ministry.
Among those who were involved were the ministry’s social services and rehabilitation directorate general secretary, Idit Supriadi, and Wyata Guna head Sudarsono.
The students immediately returned to their dormitories at the Wyata Guna center following the agreement. Volunteers, center employees and members of the public assisted the students with their belongings. They previously helped the students set up temporary tents and provided them with food and blankets.
Apart from being allowed to return to their dormitory, they also obtained catering services, which was initially suspended in August last year due to a lack of funding.
Their spokesperson, Elda Fahmi, lauded the authorities for allowing 32 students who were forcefully evicted from the center to return. However, the students still demanded to meet with Social Affairs minister Juliari Batubara to urge him to revoke a 2018 ministerial regulation on the working procedure of social and rehabilitation services.
“This [meeting with the minister] is important so our disabled brothers and sisters can also receive the social services,” Elda said.
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