Rohingya or Afghan? In Indonesia, a tale of two refugee groups

Indonesia treats its 14,000 refugees relatively benignly, but as countries such as the US restrict their intake, the wait for a new life only increases. And as resettlement opportunities shrink, conditions get worse

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An Afghan family outside the UNHCR office in Jakarta after their application for refugee status was denied. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:33pm, 2 Dec 2017Updated: 3:32pm, 2 Dec 2017

On a rainy afternoon at the Cisarua Refugee Learning Centre, in the cooler climbs outside Bogor, Hania Nemati, 14, takes time out from studies to talk about her dreams. “I want to be an astronaut, and if I can’t do that then I want to become a business woman,” says Hania in flawless English. In 2015, Hania, her parents and three brothers fled Afghanistan to Indonesia, a land that is home to about 14,000 refugees and treats them relatively benignly. It is a welcome contrast from life back in Kabul where car bombs were frequent, she recalls. “There was no reason to stay. You always remember the sound of the bombs.”

Hania Nemati, 14, has dreams of becoming an astronaut. Photo: Handout

Hania faces a long wait before she has any hope of joining a space programme. Stays of 10 years or more are not uncommon before the UNHCR relocates refugees to countries like the United States or Australia. Last year, just over 1,200 were relocated out of Indonesia. But as countries such as the US restrict their intake of refugees, their wait for a new life will get longer. Last year, the US accepted about two-thirds of Indonesia’s refuge

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“Their conditions are getting worse as their resettlement opportunities shrink,” says Febi Yonesta, director of refugee advocacy group, Suarka.

Rohingya asylum seekers and Afghan refugees at the Tangerang immigration office, Indonesia. Photo: AFP

While Indonesia, in contrast to neighbours such as Myanmar, is mostly genteel towards refugees, it still bars them from work and grants them no legal protections. Indonesia is not a signatory to the UNHCR’s 1951 Refugee Convention. “There is no legal basis for the protection of their human rights,” Yonesta says.

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Legally speaking, Hania’s school should not have been set up. Refugees may not engage in any activity, even volunteer work. Yet there is enough wiggle room for authorities to turn a blind eye.