The Foundation for Justice and the Integrity of the Papuan People (YKKMP) has documented multiple health ailments among internally displaced children from the Nduga Regency. According to YKKMP Director Theo Hesegem, the Nduga IDPs in Wamena, particularly women and children, need immediate medical attention. YKKMP had facilitated the medical treatment for six internally displaced children and one woman. They suffer scabies (see images, source: YKKMP) and cannot access free health care in the Jayawijaya Regency. The treatment was paid using donations collected by the YKKMP.
About 8,000 IDPs from Nduga have sought shelter in the Jayawijaya Regency. According to solidarity groups, 400 IDPs have died since January 2019 in Jayawijaya due to diseases and other strains they face. A humanitarian aid team from the Cenderawasih University that visited the Nduga IDPs in Wamena in late November 2020, already observed that skin diseases were among the most common health challenges for many IDPs.
The IDPs cannot access free health care in Jayawijaya because most of them do not have ID cards or other documents, which the hospitals require. A further reason was the Nduga Government’s failure to agree with the local government of Jayawijaya, which regulates the medical treatment of IDPs in Jayawijaya. The Lanny Jaya Regional Government, for instance, had signed such an agreement to allow its residents to access free health care in the Jayawijaya Regency.
