TANJUNGPINANG: Morwan Mohamed walks down the corridor of an old hotel on Batam island in the northwest Indonesia Before entering the 6 square metre (64 square foot) room that has been home to him and his growing family for the past eight years.
Mohammed, who fled the war in 1942. SudanHe is one of hundreds of refugees living in community housing on the island awaiting resettlement in a third country.
Hotel KollectaA former tourist hotel, converted into a temporary shelter in 2015, today houses 228 refugees, including from conflict-torn countries AfghanistanSomalia, Sudan and elsewhere. The island, just south of Singapore, has a population of 1.2 million.
Despite a long history of accepting refugees, Indonesia has not signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the government does not allow refugees and asylum seekers to work.
Many fled to Indonesia so they could eventually reach Australia by boat, but are now trapped in an endless uncertainty.
Mohammad and his wife arrived in Jakarta nine years ago after travelling from their hometown, Nyala, to Jeddah. Saudi ArabAnd on to the vast Southeast Asian archipelago, where his first stop was the United Nations refugee agency office in the capital.
“We didn’t know where to go, we were just looking for a safe place to live. The most important thing was to get out of Sudan to escape the war,” he said.
They arrived in Batam in 2016, as they believed it would be easier to go to a third country for resettlement from there.
All three of Mohammed’s children were born in Indonesia and he doesn’t know where his family will eventually settle. He says he wants to live a normal life, work and earn money so he can support himself without having to rely on help from others.
He said, “We have left our country, our family. We miss our family members. But life is very difficult for us here, because for eight years we are not working, not doing good work. We just sleep, wake up, eat, that’s all we do.”
Hotel Kolekta is managed by the Tanjungpinang Central Immigration Detention Centre, located on nearby Bintan Island. This three-storey detention centre, with its latticed windows and faded paint, is home to dozens of detainees who similarly face uncertain futures, including whether they will ever be able to return to their homeland, but with conditions that are more akin to prison.
Two Palestinian men have been stranded in Gaza for over a year because of the ongoing war, unable to return home. Four Burmese fishermen are stranded because they cannot afford their onward journey.
Those held at the detention center were generally in violation of Indonesia’s immigration rules, while those staying at Hotel Kolekta and other community housing had entered the country legally in search of safe haven.
On Batam Island, Majda Ishag, a 36-year-old Sudanese woman, has been living in a hotel for eight years after leaving home in search of a better life for her family in Indonesia. Her daily needs are met, but she is worried about the future and does not want her five children to spend their entire lives in Hotel Kolekta.
“I hope I will find work and rehabilitation,” he said.
UNHCR The office in Indonesia says nearly a third of the 12,295 people registered with the organisation are children, who have limited access to education and health services.
Rahima Farhangdost is one of the 5,732 refugees from Afghanistan stranded in Indonesia. She lives in Bogor, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Jakarta, and has been in Indonesia since August 2014. Taliban She was banned from working as a nurse and teacher in her hometown in the south-east of the country.
For five years he received money from a cousin living in Afghanistan, but that relative died in the conflict and since then he has had to receive monthly financial assistance from UNHCR.
“I heard that the process is fast and we can get resettlement after two or three years. So I came to Indonesia. But it’s been a long time now, 10 years. I regret it very much. I would rather die in Afghanistan than come to Indonesia,” she said.
UNHCR Indonesia says there are more than 12,000 individuals from 40 countries listed as refugees under Indonesian law, the majority of whom are from Afghanistan.
Ann Maman, UNHCR’s representative in Indonesia, said: “Resettlement is not happening quickly because it is not UNHCR that decides this. We cannot decide if a refugee will go to this country or not.”
Memon said refugees cannot be assured of a better future in Indonesia under the current system, especially those who will not be resettled.
“This is why we need to work on improving conditions for refugees living in Indonesia, because resettlement cannot be the only solution. Because it is not the only solution. Because not everyone will be able to be resettled,” Memon said.
Mohammed, who fled the war in 1942. SudanHe is one of hundreds of refugees living in community housing on the island awaiting resettlement in a third country.
Hotel KollectaA former tourist hotel, converted into a temporary shelter in 2015, today houses 228 refugees, including from conflict-torn countries AfghanistanSomalia, Sudan and elsewhere. The island, just south of Singapore, has a population of 1.2 million.
Despite a long history of accepting refugees, Indonesia has not signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, and the government does not allow refugees and asylum seekers to work.
Many fled to Indonesia so they could eventually reach Australia by boat, but are now trapped in an endless uncertainty.
Mohammad and his wife arrived in Jakarta nine years ago after travelling from their hometown, Nyala, to Jeddah. Saudi ArabAnd on to the vast Southeast Asian archipelago, where his first stop was the United Nations refugee agency office in the capital.
“We didn’t know where to go, we were just looking for a safe place to live. The most important thing was to get out of Sudan to escape the war,” he said.
They arrived in Batam in 2016, as they believed it would be easier to go to a third country for resettlement from there.
All three of Mohammed’s children were born in Indonesia and he doesn’t know where his family will eventually settle. He says he wants to live a normal life, work and earn money so he can support himself without having to rely on help from others.
He said, “We have left our country, our family. We miss our family members. But life is very difficult for us here, because for eight years we are not working, not doing good work. We just sleep, wake up, eat, that’s all we do.”
Hotel Kolekta is managed by the Tanjungpinang Central Immigration Detention Centre, located on nearby Bintan Island. This three-storey detention centre, with its latticed windows and faded paint, is home to dozens of detainees who similarly face uncertain futures, including whether they will ever be able to return to their homeland, but with conditions that are more akin to prison.
Two Palestinian men have been stranded in Gaza for over a year because of the ongoing war, unable to return home. Four Burmese fishermen are stranded because they cannot afford their onward journey.
Those held at the detention center were generally in violation of Indonesia’s immigration rules, while those staying at Hotel Kolekta and other community housing had entered the country legally in search of safe haven.
On Batam Island, Majda Ishag, a 36-year-old Sudanese woman, has been living in a hotel for eight years after leaving home in search of a better life for her family in Indonesia. Her daily needs are met, but she is worried about the future and does not want her five children to spend their entire lives in Hotel Kolekta.
“I hope I will find work and rehabilitation,” he said.
UNHCR The office in Indonesia says nearly a third of the 12,295 people registered with the organisation are children, who have limited access to education and health services.
Rahima Farhangdost is one of the 5,732 refugees from Afghanistan stranded in Indonesia. She lives in Bogor, 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Jakarta, and has been in Indonesia since August 2014. Taliban She was banned from working as a nurse and teacher in her hometown in the south-east of the country.
For five years he received money from a cousin living in Afghanistan, but that relative died in the conflict and since then he has had to receive monthly financial assistance from UNHCR.
“I heard that the process is fast and we can get resettlement after two or three years. So I came to Indonesia. But it’s been a long time now, 10 years. I regret it very much. I would rather die in Afghanistan than come to Indonesia,” she said.
UNHCR Indonesia says there are more than 12,000 individuals from 40 countries listed as refugees under Indonesian law, the majority of whom are from Afghanistan.
Ann Maman, UNHCR’s representative in Indonesia, said: “Resettlement is not happening quickly because it is not UNHCR that decides this. We cannot decide if a refugee will go to this country or not.”
Memon said refugees cannot be assured of a better future in Indonesia under the current system, especially those who will not be resettled.
“This is why we need to work on improving conditions for refugees living in Indonesia, because resettlement cannot be the only solution. Because it is not the only solution. Because not everyone will be able to be resettled,” Memon said.
