Konradus Epa, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has announced it will give compensation to more than 400 victims of terrorist bomb attacks committed across the country over the past two decades.
It will be the third and last round of payouts to be given as part of a commitment made by the government in 2018 to give compensation to terror attack victims.
So far, the government has given compensation to 230 victims, but 413 will receive payouts this year.
"The compensation applies to victims whether they be foreign or Indonesians," said Hasto Atmojo Suroyo, chairman of the Witness and Victims Protection Agency.
His announcement on Oct. 12 came on the 19th anniversary of the Bali bombings. The attack on the holiday island on Oct. 12, 2002, killed 202 people, most of them from Australia.
Suroyo said each family of those killed in bombings this year will receive US$17,857, while those seriously injured will get $15,000. Victims who suffered moderate wounds will receive $8,214 and those who suffered minor wounds will get $5,357.
In 2019, the agency gave about $130,000 to 17 victims of attacks in Jakarta and North Sumatra.
In 2020, it gave about $2.8 million to 213 victims, including those caught in bomb attacks on three churches in Surabaya in May 2018.
At least 552 attacks purportedly committed by terrorists have taken place across Indonesia since 2000, according to the Witness and Victims Protection Agency. The last bomb attack targeted a cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi province, on Palm Sunday this year.
Suroyo said this year's payout will also include victims of incidents between 2002 and 2018.
Tony Soemarno, chairman of the Association of Terrorism Bomb Victims in Indonesia, thanked the government for not forgetting victims from incidents prior to 2018.
"It will really help. Some have suffered for more than 18 years, including me," said Soemarno, who was injured in the JW Marriott Hotel bombing in Jakarta in 2003 which killed 12 people and injured 150 others.
The attacks were carried out by Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists and members of the Islamic State-linked Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group.
Source: https://www.ucanews.com/news/indonesian-govt-to-compensate-400-bomb-victims/94528