No one ever dreams of becoming a refugee, but many have been driven out of their homeland due to conflicts and violence, to become stranded in foreign lands.Jasmine, 2, was wailing on a sidewalk along Jl. Kebon Sirih in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/7/2019). She wanted to be with her father, who had gathered with other Afghan refugees across the road at the Menara Ravindo, where the country office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was headquartered, just 20 meters from where she sat with her mother Jamila, 30.
Jamila’s family of three was not alone on Jl. Kebon Sirih. Around 100 other refugees and their families were camped out nearby. They came from Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and several other countries.
“Some of us were still single when we arrived here. Then we got married and had children. My daughter was much smaller when we arrived in Indonesia, and she is growing bigger these days. How long must we wait for our rights [to be met]?” said Jamila.
Sudanese refugee Adam Ali, 29, said that he was tired of the UNHCR asking him to wait and be patient. He said that, if he had a choice, he would not be living on a sidewalk. The nights were uncomfortable and chilly, and he had many mosquito bites. In addition, he could only bathe at nearby mosques or at the homes of kind people, and he had to line up for his turn. “My milk stock has almost run out. Our babies are not getting any milk. Living on the sidewalk like this is not good for them,” said Adam.
They also do not have enough medicines. Because the refugees sleep under the open air, many of them have chronic coughs or have developed a fever. They are often saved by the kindness of strangers. The nearby puskesmas (community health center) often give them free medicine. Under such conditions living on Jl. Kebon Sirih, they have urged UNHCR Indonesia to speed up their asylum process.
Difficulties
However, it seems that it is difficult to meet their call. In a joint press conference with the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, UNHCR Indonesia country director Thomas Vargas said that the office faced many obstacles.
“Many refugees expect to be placed in a third country. We are continuously pushing resettlement countries to provide protection. However, several traditional [resettlement] countries have reduced their refugee quotas,” said Vargas.
He said that the UNHCR had offered alternative solutions, including repatriation. However, this was problematic, as many of the refugees’ countries of origin were still unsafe. Besides, there was no one-size-fits-all solution for refugees, as each had different circumstances.
The most sensible solution was to empower refugees in the transit countries. In Indonesia, for instance, the UNHCR partners with third parties and the government to improve the refugees’ capacity so they could give back to the local community.
“They obtain certificates, which can help them get jobs in the future, either in a third country or back home,” said Vargas.
On the other hand, the declining commitment of countries that had ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention was affecting transit countries like Indonesia. Indonesia was housing around 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers from conflict countries.
Indonesia’s role
The Foreign Ministry’s human rights and humanitarian affairs director, Achsanul Habib, stated during a press conference that the local refugee situation would only grow more complex, and that it posed an additional challenge for Indonesia.
Habib said that the time refugees spent in transit countries had become prolonged, since the refugees’ destination countries had cut their quotas. The latest data shows that 70 million people are living as refugees around the world, but at the same time, countries that had traditionally welcomed refugees were closing their borders.
Consequently, the burden increases for transit countries like Indonesia, Turkey and Bangladesh.
Nevertheless, acting Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said that refugee and humanitarian issues were a major focus for the government.
“Indonesia strives to provide the best and is communicating with the UNHCR to resolve existing challenges according to human rights principles,” he said.
In addition to offering temporary settlements, the government and several agencies were also providing aid to refugees. (I GUSTI AGUNG BAGUS ANGGA PUTRA/ELSA EMIRIA LEBA/KRIS MADA/*)