By Xinhua,
Jakarta : Some 24,000 Indonesian tsunami victims’ stay in Malaysia has been lengthened until January 2009, spokesman of the Indonesian Foreign Ministry Teuku Faizasyah told Xinhua on Saturday.
“The deadline is supposed to be August this year, but the Aceh provincial government is not ready yet to take in,” the spokesman said.
Some of the victims are employed by Malaysian people. “Those who get recommended from the companies or households they are working for may stay longer than the due time of January 9, 2009,”he said.
The Malaysian government received the victims after the 2004 tsunami had devastated some parts of Indonesia, particularly Aceh which lies on the western-most tip of Indonesia.
“The Malaysian government let the victims to grasp any job opportunity while taking refugee. Mostly they work for Malaysian high-income households,” he said.
So far, Faizasyah has not found out the exact number of employed tsunami victims. But those who are still unemployed have received travel documents from the consular division of the Indonesian embassy. “Those who obtain the documents reach 400 people in total,” he said.
They will go home after the due time while waiting for the readiness of the Aceh provincial government’s settlement, he added.