goodmorningpapua.com – A Spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had coordinated the plans for the repatriation of Papuan students who received scholarships in a number of countries. His party has also held talks with related parties such as the Papua Province Resource Development Agency (BPSDM), the Indonesian Ministry of Home Affairs, to the Indonesian Ministry of Finance and related institutions.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received information from representatives in several countries regarding the repatriation plan, and to ensure the repatriation process can run smoothly, we have held a joint meeting between the Papua BPSDM with several related representatives who reportedly had to be sent home some students,” said Faizasyah at a weekly press meeting on a weekly basis. virtual, Thursday (10/2/2022).
Based on the explanation provided by the Papua Province BPSDM, the reason for the repatriation of some of the scholarship recipients was based on internal developments on their respective campuses abroad. Faizasyah said, according to BPSDM Papua there are three criteria used in deciding to return students, one of which is the maximum study time limit of six years for S1.
In addition, the score of the study results, and student discipline such as the extent to which they regularly report their learning progress to the Papuan regional government are also taken into consideration in this repatriation decision. “From this report, they can measure the progress of the studies of Papuan students receiving scholarships in several countries abroad,” he said.
Faizasyah said the Papua BPSDM’s decision to repatriate some of the students was in fact related to the progress of their studies. “So this is not at all like a developing issue related to the transfer of central funds to regions based on changes to special laws, no longer to the Provincial Government but to the Regency Government,” said Faizasyah.
In this context, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has facilitated a meeting between the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Papua BPSDM so that issues that are technical ministries can be known and heard by all parties. “Based on the meetings we have held, it is very clear that the repatriation is really related to the academic progress of the students,” he said.
“In this process the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave instructions to representatives in New Zealand, the United States and a number of other countries to continue to provide encouragement to Papuan students so that they could facilitate their return process properly,” he explained.