Indonesia hosts around 14,000 refugees, most of whom are Hazara from Afghanistan who have been subjected to persecution, discrimination and genocide, with targeted and mass killings continuing to this day.  Having escaped for their lives from the genocide in Afghanistan, they now face a new threat from within.

These refugees belong to some of the world’s most persecuted minorities. It is nearly impossible for them to be repatriated to their countries of origin while they are stuck in Indonesia. And the UNHCR has effectively abandoned any plan to settle them in a new country.

Indonesia

Indonesia never signed the UN refugee convention and continues to refuse to do so. Refugees cannot work, seek formal education and are restricted in their movement within the country and cities. They are effectively turned into illegal immigrants, kept under surveillance and ostracized by the rest of society.

Even if they asylum seekers are recognized as refugees by the UNHCR, there is no certainty about their release. If they are lucky enough to leave the detention centres, they are then moved into IOM community housing, where they live in limited freedom. This process could take up to three years. However, they are still in danger of getting back to detention if they cross the line on the many restrictions imposed on them. #HelpRefugees_Indonesia

The Role of the UNHCR

Unlike other non-signatory countries such as Malaysia, where refugees are allowed to take up casual work and have access to some basic rights, such as education, movement and making a living, Indonesia does not give refugees any work rights. 

They also have no travel rights; no right to formal education; they are forbidden to marry outside their own community and from entering into a relationship with a local; curfew is imposed from 6 pm to 10 am; they are punished if they are delayed or fail to return to designated accommodation; they must compulsorily report all their movements to security; and are forbidden to drive any vehicle. 

Effectively, all the fundamental human rights of refugees are denied.

"The UN’s High Commissioner for Refugees estimates “only a small number” of the 13,745 refugees waiting in Indonesia will be resettled elsewhere."

- "Stuck in transit for seven years, a lost generation of boat people loses hope", Chris Bennett, The Age

The UNHCR has stated it may take up to 25 years or more to resettle refugees as the resettlement countries are reluctant to take them and are constantly reducing their intakes. This is demonstrated through the indefinite stall and delay of the resettlement process towards safe third countries, which in turn destroys the refugee’s wellbeing and takes away any hope of eventual freedom from persecution, isolation and exclusion, as well as any opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Mental Health Crisis

Most refugees suffer from mental disorders and receive little psychological counselling as they languish in the ghetto situation in Jakarta.  Most of the refugees that I meet suffer from trauma and depression. Some less fortunate cases are severe symptoms of PTSD.

"When we come to Indonesia, we expect to resettle to a third country in two or three years, but we are stuck forever, and we are suffering financially and mentally without our basic rights.  Our family gave up on us.  We received very little help from the NGOs. We worry so much about our future. We have already spent eight to ten years in Indonesia and we don’t know how long we are going to be trapped in Indonesia."

- Mehidi Ali Zada, Hazara refugee in Indonesia

They come from hostile situations with a traumatic past and their experience of leaving their countries. There is the issue of adapting to the environment, the financial issues, and the cultural differences that can leave them feeling alienated and not seeing any hope through the process of asylum.

They experience mental crises so severe that it is difficult for them to remember even their own birthdays. With no work or ways to pass the time, most of them languish through the day suffering from insomnia, depression and stress over daily survival. Single and unaccompanied refugees are particularly vulnerable as they have no-one to support them. 

Suicide as an Escape

On December  14, 2020, nearly six hundred refugees gathered at the UNHCR office in Jakarta with three coffins to represent their fellow refugees who committed suicide last month.  Their pictures were displayed on banners along with seven refugees who had taken their lives since 2014. 

Last December, two Hazara refugees, Muhammad Ikaram and Adul Hussian, hanged themselves in Jabodetabek, while thirty-year-old Qasem Musa is thought to have killed himself at the Immigration detention  in Medan on October 26. 

"We want justice over the years we have suffered in limbo. We mourned them with candlelight and protested at the UNHCR office. We request to accelerate our resettlement process to third countries because we have no basic rights here. We cannot go to university and work here, and we are suffering mentally which compels us to commit suicide and we want Indonesia and world to realize our situation."

- Mehidi Ali Zada, Hazara refugees’ representative in Jakarta.

Refugees protested that the cause of their deaths is the indefinite limbo they have been trapped in for more than a decade and the neglect of relevant NGOs and resettlement countries. ‘So, on Monday, we wanted to speak to UNHCR to ask if they have any solution for us to save our lives,’ Mehedi added. 

Roots of the Crisis

Indonesia used to be a transit point for many refugees who arrived hoping to make their way to Australia.  Australia had a good reputation of treating refugees humanely. 

In 2014, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that refugees registered with UNHCR would no longer be able to resettle in Australia.  The impact of Operation Sovereign Borders goes beyond the offshore detention centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island. It also manifested itself through money and political influence in Indonesia, which has indirectly become another detention centre for refugees turned away from Australia. 2

Those who have died in Manus and Nauru are countable. In Indonesia, the true number of deaths is unknown.

"We are invisible to the media and society, and neglected by almost every governmental organization. We are locked away, out of sight and out of mind for both Australians and Indonesians."

- Refugee in Jakarta who preferred not to be identified

While refugees were mourning Ikaram, another thirty-eight-year-old Hazara refugee, Adul Hussein, took his life. He had arrived in Indonesia in the critical year of 2014.  Abdul lamented to his friends the difficulty of being separated from his wife and child back home. He took his own life on the fifth floor of a community housing centre for asylum-seekers in Tangerang. View a video about the suicide here (warning: it's hard watching).

The Way Forward

Indonesia has a small number of refugees compared to countries like Bangladesh and Syria. If Australia and other safe third countries were willing to take half of them and Indonesia a third, the problem would be solved right there. But it seems unlikely that politicians will ever give up on their agendas to trap refugees and use them as pawns. 

Refugees in Indonesia need citizen awareness as they can no longer rely on politicians to restore their hope for the future. If people in the free world can spare one minute of their time and advocate for refugees, it will make a world of difference to their lives.

Source: Indefinite limbo drives refugees to take their own lives in Indonesia. Author: JN Joniad

M. Seras in Klinik Avicena, a Rohingyan refugee in medical custody. His face has been blurred, and his first name not published, to protect his privacy. From "Refugees Stuck In Indonesia Are Experiencing A Mental Health Crisis" by JN Joniad.=