Rohingya Migrants to be Relocated to Pulau Galang – Rakyat Aceh

--from Serambi Indonesia, Thursday May 21, 2009

Banda Aceh - The Central Government, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Deplu), will temporarily relocate the Rohingya migrants to Pulau Galang in Kepulauan Riau. “Deplu has three options, namely: deporting them, uniting the migrants in Idi, Aceh Timur with those who are in Sabang or finding a third country wanting to accept them,” said the Head of Kesbangpol and Linmas, Djakfar Djuned, M. Si, on Wednesday (20/05). Djakfar said it is difficult to return those immigrants to Myanmar because the Myanmarese government has not confirmed whether they will accept them or not, meanwhile, the immigrants do not want to return to their home country due to safety reasons. Therefore, the government will likely relocate them to Pulau Galang, Kepulauan Riau. In the 1970s, the central government made this island a temporary relocation site for thousands of Vietnamese boatpeople.