Tito Urges Optimisation of Huntara for Sumatra Disaster Refugees

Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) and Head of the Disaster Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Acceleration Task Force (PRR) for the Sumatra post-disaster, Muhammad Tito Karnavian, urged the optimal utilisation of temporary housing (huntara) for refugees. He said that refugee management could be achieved by maximising the capacity of huntara already available.

This was stated at a ministerial-level Coordinating Meeting (Rakor) on accelerating the handling of refugees after disasters in the Sumatra region, held in hybrid format from the Headquarters of the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) in Jakarta, on Thursday 5 March 2026.

‘What is in the tents can be moved to other locations where huntara capacity is surplus. I see the trick as that,’ Tito said in a written statement, Thursday (5/3/2026).

He emphasised that the government’s main priority at present is the refugees still housed in tents. Meanwhile, those occupying other facilities such as government buildings or meunasah (a traditional Acehnese community building) can be addressed in the next stage.

‘If those in tents are indeed the expectation of the public, from local leaders, the ones in tents should be the priority,’ he continued.

Tito added that several regions still require additional huntara due to a sizeable refugee population, with Aceh Tamiang among them.

‘Tamiang has a relatively large number. And the huntara capacity is lacking indeed,’ he added.

In addition, he called for clearer mapping of the construction of huntara from various funding sources so the government has accurate data on how many huntara have been built and how many remain targets.

He said the data are needed as input for the government’s reports to the President on the progress of handling and recovery after disasters in Sumatra. This aligns with Presidential Decree (Keppres) No. 1 of 2026 on the Task Force for the Acceleration of Rehabilitation and Reconstruction after Natural Disasters in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

‘So that we also know how many have been built by BNPB, how many by Danantara, and how many by the Ministry of Public Works (Kementerian PU). When we report to the President, every two months as per the Keppres, we report to the President,’ Tito concluded.