Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – Several healthcare workers, who survived a recent terrorist attack in Pegunungan Bintang district, Papua, have asked the government and the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to help them return home.
In a statement received by ANTARA on Tuesday, Moa and Ama, two survivors of the terrorist assault, said they have been under the Komnas HAM’s protection in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province, for almost a month.
According to Moa, they are still waiting for a definitive decision from their government on their request for returning to their hometowns in the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and South Sulawesi.
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Instead of being sent back to the Kiwirok health center in Pegunungan Bintang district, they have appealed to the Komnas HAM and Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK) to help them go home, Moa said.
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In response to this request, head of the Komnas HAM-Papua Office’s public complaint services, Melchior S.Weruin, said his office has contacted authorized persons in the Pegunungan Bintang district government and LPSK.
However, six of the nine survivors of the Kiwirok terrorist attack, who are keen to get home, are still waiting for the government’s assistance in this regard, Weruin informed without mentioning the health workers’ names.
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On the morning of September 13, 2021, several members of the Lamek Tablo-led separatist terrorist group had reportedly torched several public facilities, including a public health center, and homes in Kiwirok.
The Papuan terrorists reportedly assaulted and tortured several health workers from the Kiwirok Public Health Center. As a result, one health worker, identified as Gabriela Meilan, died while four others sustained serious injuries.
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Meilan died after being tortured by the terrorists, said officials.
The separatist terrorists also got into a gunfight with Indonesian security personnel during which one army personnel sustained minor injuries on his right arm after a bullet ricocheted and struck him.
The wounded army personnel was identified as 1st Private Ansar from the 403/WP Infantry Battalion.
The deadly terrorist attack has resulted in the termination of healthcare services at the Kiwirok Public Health Center since September 13, according to a Komnas HAM official.
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