Squatters at human rights body ask for public help
JAKARTA (JP): More than 100 Depok residents, who have been squatting on the grounds of the National Commission on Human Rights for more than two months, appealed yesterday for help from the public.
A spokesman for the squatters, Simbolon, the father of five children, said, "We need rice and clothes for our children."
Simbolon said many children had become ill. Some had to be taken to a nearby community health center to get treatment for diarrhea, coughs and colds.
Yesterday, little had changed at the site on Jl. Latuharhari, Central Jakarta, since the residents first moved in.
Families sit in groups on the grounds, children sleep on mats or play nearby, and women wash clothes in the only available bathroom of the commission's building.
A security guard who sits at the office reception counter has been unable to resolve the situation.
"They've been staying here for two months," he said. "It's been a difficult time."
But business seemed undisturbed by the squatters yesterday, as people from many parts of the country visited the commission's office to discuss their concerns with commission members.
The squatters have been living at the compound since April 22 after they were evicted from their homes in Pancoran Mas, Depok.
On April 17, the Bogor regency and the Depok mayoralty bulldozed 700 shanty houses built on 19 hectares of Ministry of Health land.
The evicted people, who are mostly from North Sumatra, have written about their plight to the Bogor regency, the Depok mayoralty, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the President.
But spokesman Simbolon said yesterday they had not received any replies.
He said the squatters would continue living on the commission's grounds until the government gives them some attention.
"We will remain, whatever happens," Simbolon said.
The commission, which fed the squatters for the first two weeks, has asked them to leave on several occasions.
The commission has said that it will not use force to make the squatters leave. (jun)