by FRIEDA SINANU and ANTJE MISSBACH
Iraqi child playing in an Indonesian village. PHOTO/ Frieda Sinanu
Asylum seekers from the Middle East and troubled parts of Asia can languish for years in difficult circumstances in Indonesia
Nine months ago, Ghaazi (not his real name), a young Afghani, tried to leave Indonesia for the third time within less than a year. Again, he was unlucky. His boat sank near Trenggalek (East Java) and his best friend drowned in front of his eyes. Most of the 250 passengers died, but Ghaazi survived the rough seas for three days and two nights, when he was found by Indonesian fishermen and returned to the Indonesian authorities. When we got to know Ghaazi, he was living in a shelter for unaccompanied refugee minors near Puncak in West Java. Claiming to be under-aged, he was provided with a place to stay and weekly pocket money of Rp 120,000 (A$12) by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). He had decided to apply for asylum, but he was still awaiting the outcome of his determination process.
While living in Indonesia, Ghaazi met a number of fellow Afghanis who had come to Indonesia much earlier than him, but were still awaiting the outcome of their asylum applications or, if they had been recognised as genuine refugees, for their resettlement to a third country. Ghaazi also knew fellow Afghanis whose applications for protection had been rejected twice or more, but who had lingered on in Indonesia, some of them had become recruiters for people smugglers. Like the people Ghaazi met, Mariyam, her husband and their five young children have been stuck in Indonesia for years on end. Having paid a people smuggler around A$15,000 to escape from Afghanistan to Australia, Indonesia was as far as they got.
After failing three times to reach Australia’s Christmas Island, Mariyam and her family ran out of money and decided to apply for protection from the UNHCR. It took five years to have their claims verified. Once they were accepted as genuine refugees, they applied for resettlement. So far, three possible host countries have rejected them. Mariyam is contemplating selling the few hectares her relatives still own in Afghanistan and make a desperate attempt to reach Australia. Having experienced maritime disasters before, she is dismissive of the dangers at sea. ‘It is better we drown together than wait here one more year.’ Twelve years of uncertainty is extraordinary, but Mariyam’s situation reflects the experiences of many transit migrants stuck in Indonesia.
Long-term limbo
Over the last decade, Indonesia has become a kind of long-term limbo for asylum seekers from conflict-ridden countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Myanmar. According to the UNHCR, the number of refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia reached over 7100 at the end of August 2012. This is a very conservative figure since not all migrants are registered with the UNHCR. Australian Government statistics show that from January to July 2012 alone more than 6093 people have travelled by boat from Indonesia to Australia.
Several factors have contributed to Indonesia’s growing attractiveness as a place of transit. Not only is Indonesia a close neighbour to Australia, but the Indonesian archipelago is vast. Its 40,000km porous borders provide transit migrants with easy entry and exit points. Also, Indonesia has, until recently, pursued a live-and-let-live attitude to asylum seekers if registered with the UNHCR, which processes their claims for refugee status. However, as a non-signatory of the Refugee Convention, Indonesia does not offer special protection to asylum seekers but refrains from refoulement (forced return). Indonesia prefers to have recognised refugees resettled to third countries and rejected asylum seekers returned home. It has no legal provisions to allow asylum seekers and refugees to integrate permanently into its society.
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