Children, who lost their parents due to the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy, that struck on October 1, 2022, needed figures, who can fill the role of their deceased parents, the Indonesian Child Protection Commission (KPAI) stated.
“In addition to (providing) compensation money, basic needs, and scholarship (assistance), it is important to ensure that children, who have lost their parents, get the right foster parents,” Head for the Supervision, Monitoring, and Evaluation Division of KPAI Jasra Putra told Antara on Thursday.
Furthermore, he said that people should learn from the COVID-19 pandemic that also claimed the lives of several people, including many parents.
Children of the deceased parents might experience deep sorrow due to losing the important figures in their life, so his side assessed that the orphans need long-term assistance.
The substitute parents for the orphans of Kanjuruhan Stadium stampede are expected to have a plan for the children’s future and be careful in using the assistance given to the kids.
The KPAI official also emphasized the importance of involving experts from various sectors, including social workers, psychologists, and teachers, in guiding the orphans on utilizing the provided aid to optimize their growth and development.
He noted that according to the mandate of Law 23 of 2014 on the division of the central and regional authority to assist children requiring special protection, the district head or mayor became the leader for the implementation of special protection for children.
“Thus, it is important that the government, along with the community, strengthen the sense of responsibility of foster parents (towards the orphans) as well as increase the economic access for families in need,” he remarked.
It must also be ensured that the children, who lost their parents in the Kanjuruhan tragedy, live in loving and prosperous families, so they felt accepted and protected.
“Children, who lose their parents, are easily disturbed by their emotions. Pressure and yelling can have bad impacts on their growth and development in the future,” Putra stressed.
He expected that the local government would provide training for substitute parents to be able to implement the best parenting method to support the development of children.
Earlier, the government had provided several compensations to the bereaved families of the deceased victims of the incident, including the central government, which provided compensation worth Rp50 million for each victim.
The police reported that the tragedy had claimed 131 lives.
Source: Antara News