... there’s no way forward
REFUGEES IN INDONESIA LOOKING FOR RESETTLEMENT IN THE WEST FACE AN IMPASSE
brahim Adam fled armed conflict in his home region of Darfur, Sudan, in 2011, and ended up seeking asylum in Indonesia, hoping to be eventually resettled in Australia or another Western country so he could resume his dream of being an economist.
But after languishing for nearly seven years in Indonesia — where he cannot legally work, access public services or obtain citizenship — Ebrahim recently received bad news: His resettlement is unlikely to ever happen. The UN Refugee Agency’s office in Indonesia has begun informing the nearly 14,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia that they should not expect to be welcomed by another country. Instead, they should prepare to assimilate into Indonesian society as best they can, or consider returning to their strife-torn countries.
“Still no home, and no hope,” said Ebrahim, 33, who was granted UN refugee status in 2015. Ebrahim received an economics degree from Alneelian University in Khartoum, Sudan, in 2009, and earns much-needed income in Jakarta by surreptitiously teaching English classes at local state schools. Analysts said Ebrahim faces additional obstacles: He is single, Muslim and of military age, which could make countries worried about terrorism less likely to take him in.
Ebrahim bristles at the suggestion that he is a security risk. “I’m not suffering here so I can then go and attack someone,” he said. “I just want to live.”
Resettlement
Globally, there are more than 24 million certified refugees and asylum seekers, the highest levels since the Second World War, according to the United Nations. Historically, the chances of refugees ever being resettled are only around 1 per cent. Those refugees residing in Indonesia face the additional obstacle that the United States and Australia, the two main resettlement destinations for refugees here, have put in place more stringent immigration policies, further decreasing their already long odds.
“We are as honest as we can be, and try to explain to them how unpredictable things are,” said Thomas Vargas, head of the UN Refugee Agency office in Indonesia. “We’re trying to tell them, ‘Have realistic expectations,’ because we’re having a global crisis and there are limited options.”
Vargas added: “In general, resettlement countries were more generous in the past about providing opportunities in this part of the world.”
The situation of refugees hoping for resettlement in the West became more dire after President Donald Trump took office last January. His administration’s travel ban blocks people from eight countries from entering the US, including Somalia, the country with the second-highest number of refugees and asylum seekers stuck in Indonesia.
Last year, only about 400 refugees living in Indonesia were resettled in the United States, according to the United Nations. Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN refugee convention, which prohibits governments from returning people fleeing persecution to areas where they face serious threats, but the country has allowed certified refugees to remain here as they await resettlement in a third country.
Indonesia’s rules
Indonesia also allows asylum seekers to wait in the country as their cases are examined by the United Nations.
Indonesian officials, however, say that permanent resettlement here is not an option.
“Indonesia is only a transit country, to accommodate migrants to their destination country,” said Agung Sampurno, a spokesman for the Directorate General of Immigration. “If the UN asks us to make it permanent, Indonesia can’t do that.” Thomas Brown, an Australian researcher who focuses on refugee issues in Indonesia, said it was a punch in the gut for refugees and asylum seekers to hear from the United Nations that they may never leave the country. “There is a real possibility that some may never be resettled in their lifetime,” Brown said.
Transit point
For years, asylum seekers from the Middle East and South Asia have used Indonesia as a transit point to reach Australia, boarding rickety wooden boats — for the perilous voyage across the Indian Ocean.
In 2013, however, the Australian government adopted strict new measures to discourage future arrivals by immediately transferring those who made it to its shores to spartan detention centers in Papua New Guinea and Nauru. Australia has also towed boats packed with asylum seekers back into Indonesian waters, and has banned the resettlement of refugees who registered with the UN Refugee Agency in Indonesia after July 1, 2014.