1) Civil group distributes aid for refugees in Papua’s Puncak Regency

2) Terrorist arrested in Merauke linked to Makassar church bombing network

3) Minister claims latest internet blackout in West Papua due to natural event

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https://en.jubi.co.id/civil-group-distributes-aid-for-refugees-in-papuas-puncak-regency/

1) Civil group distributes aid for refugees in Papua’s Puncak Regency

 News Desk June 8, 2021 7:06 pm

Nabire, Jubi – A humanitarian team in Timika, the capital of Mimika Regency, is collecting and distributing aids for the people of Puncak Regency who fled their villages to avoid armed conflict between the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) and the Indonesia Military (TNI) and police.

 

Head of the humanitarian team Yunias Kulla told Jubi the team was founded on May 19, 2021 and had been working to raise aid for Puncak refugees since then.

“The team was founded by the Puncak people who live outside Puncak. We are collecting humanitarian aid for displaced people caused by the armed conflict,” Kulla said in a Whatsapp message on Tuesday, June 1.

Kulla said the team had received assistance from the Synod of the Evangelical Christian Church in Papua Land. “On Tuesday, we have received assistance from the Synod of the Evangelical Christian Church in Papua Land and the Wahana Visi Indonesia Christian organization. They donated one ton of rice, cooking oil, and instant noodles,” Kulla said.

 

Kulla hoped that the Puncak government would distribute more aid to the displaced people. “We also accept donations from individuals or groups. We accept assistance in any form and will distribute it according to the available data,” he said.

 

Kulla further said that his party would continue to update the condition of the displaced people in Puncak. “We try to give updates about Puncak displaced people through our social media. We have also distributed stickers to the public which include the address of our post,” he said. The humanitarian post is located in Jalan Baru, Neighborhood Unit 14, Kwamki Subdistrict, Mimika.

 

Meanwhile, lawyer Oktavianus Tabuni urged the government to give special attention to displaced people caused by the armed conflict. “The number of displaced people is increasing but they have not received special attention [from the government] yet,” Tabuni said.

 

“Many children in the refugee camps have their rights ignored, including the right to life and health,” Tabuni added.

 

Reporter: Hengky Yeimo

Editor: Aryo Wisanggeni G

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https://en.jubi.co.id/terrorist-merauke-linked-makassar-church-bombing/

2) Terrorist arrested in Merauke linked to Makassar church bombing network

 News Desk June 8, 2021 8:20 pm

Jakarta, Jubi – The National Police has ensured that 11 suspected terrorists arrested by the Densus 88 counterterrorism squad in Merauke Regency, Papua in late May are linked to the Villa Mutiara Makassar terrorist group in South Sulawesi, who was responsible for the suicide bombing at the Makassar Cathedral in March this year.

 

The Makassar terrorist group are members of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD), an extremist group blamed for series of attacks including the 2018 church bombing in East Java’s Surabaya City and the 2019 church bombing in the Philippines committed by a married Indonesian couple.

“Yes, they are related. The suspected terrorists detained in Merauke are the extension of the Makassar terrorist network,” head of the Police’s Public Information Bureau Brig. Gen. Rusdi Hartono said on Monday, June 7, 2021, as quoted by CNN Indonesia.

According to Hartono, the suspected terrorists moved to Merauke after seeing the Densus 88 actively arresting terrorists in Makassar. They planned to do terrorism acts outside Makassar, including heading to Merauke.

 

National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Argo Yuwono said that Densus 88 suspected the alleged Merauke terrorists would bomb the church and Merauke Police headquarters.

 

Yuwono said the suspected terrorists had taken an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. He explained that these people joined a Whatsapp and Telegram group loaded with extremist content.

 

Editor : Edi Faisol

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https://en.jubi.co.id/minister-internet-blackout-west-papua/

3) Minister claims latest internet blackout in West Papua due to natural event

 News Desk June 8, 2021 9:14 pm

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia – Communication and Information Minister Johnny G Plate said the broken submarine cables in Jayapura waters, which had caused an internet blackout in Jayapura City and its surrounding areas in the past month, was broken due to a natural event.

 

“From our observation, the disturbance is caused by natural factors,” Plate said virtually on Monday, June 7, 2021.

“The potential [of disturbance] is very high in the area because this area is related to volcanic activity,” he added.

Plate suspected that the heat from underwater volcanic activity resulted in high temperatures that could break the submarine cable.

 

Submarine cables of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (PT Telkom) were broken on April 30, 2021, and have caused internet blackout in Jayapura, Abepura, Sentani, and Sarmi until today.

 

Plate said that the incident in late April was not the first time. He said that internet disruption due to broken submarine cables, which was caused by natural factors, had occurred at least five times.

 

Plate hoped that the internet service in Jayapura could be recovered soon. However, PT Telkom said that the submarine cable recovery process is disrupted by bad weather.

 

PT Telkom Papua head Sugeng Widodo said it would take at least one month for the internet service to recover. “For the time being, the people in Jayapura and Sarmi can only use the phone and short messaging services,” Widodo said.

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