An illegal immigrant from Myanmar, Muhammad Yunus, on Tuesday left the Medan Training and Education Center, which is leased as a shelter by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Yunus fled the shelter at around 10 a.m. local time with two of his colleagues. None of the security guards at the scene prevented them from leaving the premises.
The Jakarta Post approached them Yunus and his friends for an interview as they walked along the road.
He said he wanted to go to Aceh for several days to meet a colleague. He did not mention who the colleague was. “I’ll probably be in Aceh for two or three days, after which I’ll return here. I want to give these clothes to my friend,” he said, showing the package he was carrying.
Yunus said that apart from himself, other immigrants had also left the shelter. Most of them left never to return, he added.
Asked where the immigrants had gone to, Yunus said some had left for Malaysia and some were still in Indonesia. “They left to look for work. There’s no work htere, so they can’t stand staying there. They need money to live,” he told the Post.
Yunus added that around 50 immigrants were currently being housed at the shelter.
There are reportedly 147 illegal Myanmar and 48 Bangladeshi immigrants currently staying at the Medan Training and Education Center. They have been there since December last year. The shelter previously accommodated Iraqi immigrants.
Zulfan Tadjir Harahap, an official from Medan IOM, said Tuesday he was not aware of the whereabouts of the escaped immigrants.
“I don’t know where they are. My job is to distribute food to them,” Zulfan said, adding he was unaware of the decreasing amount of food he provided to immigrants.
Zulfan said he was not authorized to comment on the fact that immigrants were free to enter and leave the shelter.
North Sumatra Police spokesman Comr. Baharuddin Djafar warned the lack of supervision of immigrants could lead to social impacts on the society. He said police were ready to assist in tracking down the missing immigrants if requested by immigration authorities.
In a related development, seven illegal Afghan immigrants fled a detention center in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday.
However, two others failed to follow suit after being caught by security officers. The seven Afghans broke through a wall using a spoon and shower, Surabaya immigration detention head Djarot Sutrisno said.
“They also used a bed to help them not be heard by officers,” he added. He said the immigrants managed to crawl through a 30-centimeter hole in the wall.
In the last several months, 16 detained immigrants have broken out of the shelters in Surabaya.
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