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Fresh wave of Rohingya arrivals vaccinated, moved to Medan
A group of Rohingya refugees that arrived on the shores of Aceh in the past week have been vaccinated and relocated to the North Sumatran capital Medan to await repatriation or resettlement, an International Organization for Migration (IOM) official has said.
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Watch your step: An Indonesian Military (TNI) officer supervise the relocation of Rohingya refugees from Simpang Ulim district, East Aceh regency, Aceh, to Medan, North Sumatra, on June 9, 2021. (Antara/Hayaturrahmah)
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total of 81 Rohingya refugees, who arrived by boat on the shores of Aceh province this past week, have been screened for COVID-19 and vaccinated before being temporarily relocated to Medan in North Sumatra on Thursday, authorities have said.
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued civil unrest in Myanmar, members of the persecuted minority from Rakhine state have continued to look for ways to escape cramped refugee camps in Bangladesh in search of sanctuary abroad. Indonesia has been a transit point.
The latest group of arrivals, comprising 62 adults and 19 children, arrived on Idaman Island in East Aceh last Friday after a perilous journey from Cox’s Bazar via Indian waters. They were relocated to temporary accommodation in Medan to await further processing by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Indonesia.
Read also: Dozens of Rohingya refugees land off Aceh coast
IOM Indonesia program coordinator Sonya Wallenta said the transfer to Medan was done at the recommendation of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Ministry’s overseas refugee response task force (PPLN), in coordination with officials from the East Aceh regency and the Medan city administration.
Before their departure, the refugees underwent a series of health tests in East Aceh, including a COVID-19 swab test, as well as receiving the first jabs of the coronavirus vaccines, Sonya said.
“Their test results came back negative and they have participated in the first stage of vaccinations. For the second stage, we will try to cooperate with the local government in Medan. For now, they have been put here to self-isolate for 14 days while the [UN refugee agency UNHCR] records them as international refugees,” she said at Bukit Panembahan Hotel in Medan, on Thursday.
