Aceh refugees stranded in Cianjur

CIANJUR, West Java: At least ten families of Acehnese refugees who face an uncertain future in Cianjur, West Java, are in desperate need of financial assistance from local authorities.

Ucu Rachmat, a local community leader, called on the local administration and the regency legislature to pay adequate attention to the refugees since they had resorted to begging within the local community to survive.

"Local authorities should pay attention to the families of refugees because they could no longer depend on the uncertain assistance from the local people," he said here on Friday.

He said more than 300 other refugees who fled the conflict in Aceh were still living with their families in several villages in the regency.

Ibu Dede Saryamah, deputy chairperson of the Cianjur Regency Legislative Council, said she would raise the refugee issue in the next session. --Antara