Refugees stranded for years in Indonesia, feel neglected by Fardah

Haydee Alnoori, 40, his wife, and five children, one Jakarta-born, demonstrated with Iraqi refugees, brandishing “We are Iraqis marginalized” papers before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Jakarta office on Aug 22.
"We are marginalized. We came here six years ago. My children face an unknown future,” Alnoori informed the media.
Alnoori stated that his youngest son, born in Jakarta as a refugee, had no nationality, as he had yet to be listed on either the Indonesian or Iraqi government’s population document.
The Iraqi refugees staged protests on several occasions and claimed to have negotiated with the UNHCR a fortnight ago and had ended the demonstration to give it some time, but to no avail, as the UN body neither took concrete action nor gave any form of promise.
The Iraqi refugees vowed to continue to protest until the time the UNHCR acts in their favor.
In Medan, North Sumatra Province, several refugees also rallied on the same day.
Ibrahim Basir, a Palestinian refugee, was displeased and annoyed over the fact that despite the refugees having resided in Medan for several years, their cause had been forgotten and that the UNHCR had yet to process matters over moving them to third countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States.
"We are bored of living like this. We just eat and sleep and are not allowed to find jobs," he stated.

BALI PROCESS UNDERLINES CONCRETE ACTIONS TO ADDRESS IRREGULAR MIGRATION PROBLEMS by Fardah

Nusa Dua, Bali, March 23, 2016 (Antara) - Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi of Indonesia and Julie Bishop of Australia here Wednesday closed the sixth Bali Process that yielded a 14-point Bali Declaration on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime.

        "...we are committed to have a mechanism of the Bali Process to facilitate timely and proactive consultation to respond to emergency situations. We underline the need to translate political commitments into concrete actions," the Declaration said.

        Minister Marsudi cited the influx of Rohingya refugees in May 2015 as an emergency situation.

        During the emergency situation, the Bali Process failed to offer either a concrete solution or cooperation in addressing the problem, she said at a press conference held after the closing of the meeting.

         Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand have been impacted by the influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

         "This must not happen again. Indonesia believes, in this case, that the humanitarian aspect must prevail. It was for this reason that Indonesia went the extra mile in accepting irregular migrants last year. But the task at hand is much bigger than one country can handle by itself. Therefore, we need to establish a special mechanism that would allow us to address this collectively," the minister stated earlier in her opening remarks.

GOVT URGED TO STERNLY DEAL WITH AUSTRALIA'S BOAT TURN-BACK POLICY by Fardah

   Jakarta, Jan 9, 2014 (Antara) - Indonesia is observing a moratorium on cooperating with Australia on people-smuggling following a spying scandal revealed by the whistle-blower Edward Snowden and reported by the Australian media last year.

        The bilateral relations between the two neighboring countries are severely strained following the revelation of a "top secret" document alleging that an Australian intelligence body had intercepted the phone lines of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the First Lady, the Vice-President, and other senior ministers.

AUSTRALIA PLEDGES TO RESPECT INDONESIA'S SOVEREIGNTY IN HANDLING BOAT PEOPLE By Fardah

    Jakarta, Oct 2, 2013 (Antara) - The recent visit of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to Indonesia is believed to have strengthened cooperation between the two countries in handling the issue of the boat people, who use Indonesia as a transit country while making their way to Australia.

         Abbott's first overseas state visit since taking over as Prime Minister on September 7, took place just a few days after a sea tragedy that claimed the lives of at least 31 would-be asylum seekers, whose boat sank off the southern coast of Indonesia while they were trying to sail to Australia.

AUSTRALIA SPARES NO MERCY FOR ASYLUM SEEKERS, CHARGES CRITICS by Fardah

    Jakarta, Aug 24, 2013 (Antara) - In Indonesia, there is an old saying expressing one's love of country, regardless of problems.

     As the saying goes, "It is better to live in our own country, although there is rain of rocks, than in another country, even though it has rain of gold". 
   But, in countries which are in turmoil or embroiled in war, many people have no choice but to leave their countries  to live elsewhere, as they seek normal lives.

INDONESIA EMPHASIZES "PREVENTION, DETECTION AND PROTECTION" TO TACKLE PEOPLE SMUGGLING by Fardah

     Jakarta, April 3, 2013 (Antara) - Indonesia and Australia have agreed that people smuggling and trafficking in persons are complex and multidimensional problems that require cooperation among source, transit and destination countries to tackle them.

        The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that 2012 saw unprecedented migratory movements on all maritime routes in the Asia-Pacific region, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr said in his opening speech at the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.

SRI LANKAN IMMIGRANTS IN DESPAIR, FINALLY SURRENDER by Fardah

      Jakarta, Aug 27, 2011 (ANTARA) - Some 88 Sri Lankan immigrants who had been living in despair aboard their boat, the MV Alicia, since July 10, 2011, finally surrendered to the Tanjungpinang Immigration Office because there was not enough food and drinking water on their crowded vessel.

       Their misery came into the public spotlight on Wednesday (Aug 24) when five Sri Lankan men decided to jump off the boat, They swam for more than two hours to a nearby isle because they could no longer stand living aboard the boat with very limited food and water that had to be shared with over 80 other immigrants.

MISERABLE LIFE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN "UNWANTED COUNTRY" by Fardah

        Jakarta, Sept 15, 2010 (ANTARA) - Just one day after Nasir (24), an Iranian illegal immigrant, died of serious depression in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara Province (NTT), Rahiq (28), another Iranian immigrant, was beaten by a mob for trying to escape from a detention center also in Kupang, on August 24.
        Nasir had been detained at the Kupang immigration detention center since last June after being arrested with 40 other illegal immigrants on Sumba Isle, NTT, during their attempt to reach "the New World" of Australia, located south of Indonesia.

SRI LANKAN BOAT PEOPLE IN LIMBO AS AUSSIE CLOSES DOOR by Fardah

Jakarta, April 20, 2010 (ANTARA) - About a week after the Australian government decided to tighten its door close, immigration authorities transferred 134 Sri Lankan immigrants in Banten to the Tanjungpinang immigration detention center in Riau Islands.

The Sri Lankan refugees had so far been held in their boat at Indah Kiat harbor, Banten, since October 2009. They had refused to leave their boat for six months during which they kept on insisting on being allowed to travel to Australia.

Sri Lankan Immigrants Finally Off to Third Countries by Fardah

    Jakarta, Jan. 21, 2010 (ANTARA) - After staying in Riau's immigration detention center for almost three months, all 78 Sri Lankan immigrants, who had earlier been 'rescued' by Australia's customs vessel Oceanic Viking, have finally left Riau, for third countries, either Australia, Canada or New Zealand.
        Escorted by Indonesian foreign ministry and Australian embassy officials, the last batch of the immigrants left Riau on Wednesday (Jan. 20). The 16 immigrants were flown to Jakarta before proceeding to Australia and the Philippines.
        "They are the last batch of a total of 78 Sri Lankan immigrants who were accommodated at the Tanjungpinang immigration detention center after they had to get off the Australian vessel Oceanic Viking," Samsu Rizal, an Indonesian foreign ministry official, said in Tanjungpinang, Riau Province, Wednesday (Jan. 20).

RI PROVIDES SOLUTION TO AUSTRALIA'S ASYLUM SEEKER PROBLEM by Fardah

      Jakarta, Oct. 21, 2009 (ANTARA) - Indonesia during the past few days did a few favors to Australia regarding Sri Lankan asylum seekers intending to go to Australia. 

       First, it was on October 11, when Indonesia's Navy intercepted a boat with about 255 Sri Lankans aboard and took them to Merak harbor, western Java, after a phone call from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the presence of the Tamils wanting to cross to Australia's Christmas Island.

        Second, it was when Indonesia agreed to take the latest group of 78 asylum seekers, also from Sri Lanka, from the vessel "Oceanic Viking" at an Australian Customs ship which had picked them on Sunday (Oct. 18) after sending out a distress signal in Indonesia's search and rescue zone. 

REFUGEES STUCK IN "TRANSIT COUNTRIES" by Fardah

      Jakarta, June 30, 2009 (ANTARA) - Escaping from war-torn Afghanistan, more and more Afghan refugees, including women and children, in fact have ended up in Indonesian jails instead of in the land of their dreams, Australia. 

       Indonesia has been 'kind enough' to become a 'very strong fortress' protecting neighboring Australia from refugees, especially those from Afghanistan. 

        Stuck in Indonesia, most of them have lived in the country for four to six years, cannot work, go to school, or settle down. According to information from Crikey website, Australia provides $18 million a year directly to the Indonesian government to improve 'migration management and border security in Indonesia'.