The basic food assistance was handed over in person by MER-C Aceh Coordinator Ira Hadiati to the Head of Ulee Blang Mane village, M. Khalis Munadi, who manages a public kitchen for the food needs of Rohingya refugees in his village.

Jakarta (Indonesia Windows) – The Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) has distributed the basic food assistance in the forms of 34 sacks of rice weighing 15 kilograms per sack and 50 kilograms of cooking oil for Rohingya refugees in Indonesia’s Lhoksumawe city, Aceh province.

In its statement received by Indonesia Window here on Tuesday, the distribution of humanitarian aid by MER-C took place on Monday (20/8).

The basic food assistance was handed over in person by MER-C Aceh Coordinator Ira Hadiati to the Head of Ulee Blang Mane village, M. Khalis Munadi, who manages a public kitchen for the food needs of Rohingya refugees in his village.

Ira said that currently Rohingya refugees in Aceh are spread across several areas and each refugee camp has different needs. For this reason, MER-C has tried to provide assistance according to their needs in the field.

"Previously, I had also provided assistance in two locations, namely in Mina Raya and in Pidi. In each refugee camp, there are different needs. In Mina Raya they need clothes, in Pidi they need sanitation, clean water and bathrooms, then in Lhoksumawe, the refugees who are moving to Sabang (Indonesia’s westernmost city, still in Aceh) need food," Ira explained.

Meanwhile, for Rohingya refugees in East Aceh district, MER-C distributed assistance in the form of iqra text books and Al Quran holy books, large mats for prayer rooms and portable solar cells for lighting refugee tents.

The Ulee Blang Mane village head said the public kitchen for Rohingya refugees has been going on for eight months. This public kitchen is managed by the village with 120 people taking turns cooking for hundreds of Rohingya refugees.

"So now there are about 120 people working here... We make shifts so that in a day we can work 18 people," Khalis noted.

Now about 370 Rohingya refugees from adults to children are still placed in temporary shelters in the former Lhoksumawe immigration office building.

Reporting by Indonesia Window