Freeport Indonesia provides aid for refugees in Papua’s Intan Jaya

Freeport provides aid for refugees

Timika, Papua (ANTARA) – PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) has supplied 5.3 tonnes of staple food for several hundred residents of Intan Jaya district, Papua, who have taken refuge at the Bilogai church following a spurt in violence in the district.

The gold mining company operating in Papua’s Grasberg minerals district handed the relief packages containing items such as rice, sugar, instant noodles, and cooking oil, to the Timika Diocese on Wednesday.

The PTFI management sent the aid in response to a letter sent by the Timika Diocese administrator, Pastor Marthen Kuayo Pr, Vice President of PTFI’s Social and Local Development Department, Nathan Kum, said.

The aid packages would hopefully reach all households being sheltered at the Bilogai church, he added.

The Timika Diocese’s secretary, Pastor Andreas Madya Sriyanto SCJ, thanked the PTFI management for providing aid for those fleeing their homes and taking refuge in schools and churches in Intan Jaya and Nabire districts.

The PTFI’s relief aid was very helpful for the refugees, he added.

Meanwhile, the Papua provincial administration is making efforts to restore normalcy in Intan Jaya, which has been witness to a spate of violence targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.

The government has launched emergency response measures to address the impact of the most recent armed conflict, which has forced around 600 locals to flee their homes.

During a meeting in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, on Tuesday, Papua Deputy Governor Klemen Tinal said the handling of locals taking refuge for safety reasons would be the government’s priority, he said.

At the meeting, deputy head of Intan Jaya district, Yan Kobogoyau, said conditions in the district have been improving and many refugees have gradually returned home.

The Papua provincial government is expected to take strategic measures to restore normalcy in Intan Jaya, he added.

Armed Papuan groups operating in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak have been targeting civilians and security personnel over the past two years.

Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September, 2020, with notorious armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and left two others injured.

On February 15, 2021, several armed Papuan rebels engaged in a gunfight with Indonesian army personnel in Mamba village, Sugapa sub-district, Intan Jaya district, which resulted in the death of one soldier.

The same day, a joint team of military and police personnel shot dead three armed Papuan rebels who tried to take the rifles of several security personnel securing the Sugapa public health center.

Terrorized by the shooting of a villager, identified by his initials as RNR, by an armed criminal on February 8, 2021, about 359 residents of Intan Jaya took refuge in a church over safety concerns.

Most of those who decided to leave their homes and move to the church over fears of being targeted by members of the armed group were residents of Bilogai village of Sugapa sub-district.(INE)

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Related news: Papua government moves to restore normalcy in Intan Jaya

Source of Freeport provides aid for refugees: ANTARA NEWS