Govt vows to resolve refugee issue
Govt vows to resolve refugee issue
MANADO, North Sulawesi: The government has vowed to resolve the country's internal refugee problems by August this year at the latest.
Minister of Social Affairs Bachtiar Chamsjah said in Manado, North Sulawesi on Sunday that his ministry would look at several possibilities, including sending refugees home or giving job training so that they could make a living themselves.
The minister said that each refugee would receive one lump sum payment.
He said the Ministry of Social Affairs had budgeted around Rp 700 billion (US$78.6 million) for the more than 500,000 refugees from several conflict areas such as Maluku and Poso in Central Sulawesi. --Antara
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Confusion over citizenship status
ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: The Atambua District Court is planning to ask the government to clarify the citizenship status of former East Timorese refugees in the regency.
Court head Julius Viktor Rahardjo said Sunday that it would ask the regent of Belu and the foreign ministry to determine the refugee's citizenship status.
He said confusion about citizenship could lead to difficulties in court rulings.
"If someone claims they are a citizen of East Timor after committing a crime, it would be hard to process as we have no any extradition agreement with East Timor yet," he said.
Viktor also said that it would also be unfair to sentence a person without knowing their citizenship status.
Viktor said he believed that refugees from East Timor who refused to return home should be given Indonesian citizenship.
The refugee status lapsed on Dec. 31, 2002. Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said earlier that the refugees would automatically become Indonesians if they chose to stay in Indonesia after the deadline lapsed. -- Antara
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Local govts must abide by revoked law
BANDAR LAMPUNG: The Ministry of Home Affairs wants local governments to comply with a presidential decree relating to a local government's authority to approve their regional budgets.
"Presidential Decree No. 110 was revoked by the Supreme Court, however, the President has not approved it. Therefore we should still abide by the decree when determining regional budgets," Minister of Home Affairs Hari Sabarno said Sunday.
However, the President can not overturn decisions made by Indonesia's highest court.
Several regional governments have complained about a telegram sent by the ministry early this month, saying that regional budgets must comply with the decree.
The Minister said that although legislative councils could approve their budgets, certain steps outlined in the decree must be followed to avoid the misuse of funds. --Antara
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Quake victims afraid to go home
JAKARTA: Hundreds of villagers from Sampora and Caracas in the regency of Kuningan slept in the open over the weekend amid fears of more aftershocks following last Friday's earthquake which measured 4.8 on the Richter scale.
No casualties were reported but people chose to pitch make- shift tents rather than return home. Others left the villages to live with relatives or friends.
On Saturday, residents began the clean-up in Caracas, where three houses were destroyed and 12 others damaged.
Kuningan regent Arifin Setiamiharja promised cement to help the people rebuild. - Antara