VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud) and Japanese Embassy in Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Excavation, Collection, and Repatriation of the Remain of the Japanese Soldiers who Died on the Second World War in the Province of Papua and the Province West Papua, Indonesia, Tuesday (26/06). The agreement was signed by the Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture, Hilmar Farid and Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii at the Ministry of Education and Culture Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (06/25). The Director General of Culture, Ministry of Education and Culture Hilmar Farid said, the repatriation cooperation was an extension of the previous cooperation, by including a number of revisions.

"The excavation has already been done before, and now it's actually an extension of it, and of course there are some minor revisions that are in accordance with our current situation. So the discussion is quite long, and now Alhamdulillah, it is finished, completed, and the cooperation will continue," said Hilmar Farid.

Meanwhile, Japan's Ambassador to Indonesia Masafumi Ishii said that there are at least 20,000 troops in World War II who were still in Papua. The Japanese government will send a team to carry out the repatriation of these remains. (VOI / AHM)