300 Refugee Children in Aceh Without Parents: UNHCR

Jakarta, June 19 (Antara) - As many as 300 child and teenage refugees in Aceh are without parents, according to Thomas Vargas, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to Indonesia. "Many are not accompanied by their parents, and so, one of our missions is to reunite them with their parents," he stated after attending the signing of an agreement with the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) here on Friday. He remarked that the refugees in Aceh belonging to different backgrounds have various stories to share. "Most of them are asylum seekers from the Rohingya ethnic group. Many of them are also looking for their closest relatives," he added. According to data, most of the refugees planned to go to Malaysia to find their closest relatives, but they were clubbed along with the other groups heading to Aceh in Indonesia. He affirmed that before being reunited with their relatives, their information would first be administratively recorded. He said the UNHCR is currently cooperating with Red Cross agencies in various countries to seek their assistance in dealing with the problem. "The refugee problem in Aceh indeed needs special attention, and therefore, we will cooperate with the PMI to overcome it," he said. The UNHCR and PMI will make an inventory of the refugees and help them reunite with their closest relatives and if possible with their families, he said. He stated that the UNHCR and PMI had signed a memorandum of understanding on handling asylum seekers and one form of cooperation reached was to provide security to the refugees or asylum seekers when they arrive in Indonesia. The UNHCR for Indonesia will provide training in vocational skills to the refugees who decide to stay for the long term in other countries. He was optimistic that by imparting such skills, they would become more self-confident and would help in offering them a psychological boost. "This will offer them a new ray of hope, and they would not become a burden on the recipient country," he added.