V. Restricted Living Conditions outside Detention

Here we are outside [detention]. But … [w]e’re not all free—there are rules. If we break them, they send us back to the detention center.[241]

—Faizullah A., an unaccompanied Afghan migrant who arrived in Indonesia aged 17.

We don’t like it here. We have lost our lives … everything is finished.[242]

—Kiriya J., a Sri Lankan girl who came to Indonesia with her family when she was 16 years old.

Life in Indonesia is extremely difficult for migrant and asylum-seeking children, even when they are not detained. Without legal permission to be in Indonesia, migrants live in constant fear of arrest, unable to go to the police in events of crimes. Asylum-seekers with only tokens have little or no protection, while UNHCR’s asylum seeker certificates and refugee certificates offer only marginal improvements. Even when recognized as refugees by UNHCR, families, unaccompanied children, and others cannot build a life in Indonesia, as they are not given the right to work or move freely around the country. Violating these or other conditions can lead to re-arrest and detention.

Lack of Assistance Prior to UNHCR Recognition

Asylum seekers receive no assistance at all from the Indonesian government, and are constantly vulnerable to arrest by Indonesian immigration authorities. Once they register and receive an asylum seeker certificate, but while waiting for the outcome of the refugee status determination process, some asylum seekers receive some material and financial assistance through NGOs such as Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS). However, as the numbers of asylum seekers in Indonesia grows, the need far outstrips the capacity for NGOs to respond to this need.[243]

Fartuun A. and her family are Somali asylum seekers who have registered with UNHCR living near Bogor, outside Jakarta, where many migrants live. They arrived in Indonesia in June 2011, but only found assistance from JRS in December 2011, after they were able to register as asylum seekers.

“Before JRS, no one else helped us. [Only other] Somalis would help us,” said Fartuun. “We can’t work here to take care of the children, to buy food, to pay rent, to make a better future for all.[244]

According to our interviews, police have raided homes of migrants and asylum seekers in the areas around Bogor. An NGO worker in the area reported, “Since UNHCR instituted the token system, uniformed men have been going house-to-house to homes of single males and demanding money ‘because they have no papers.’ No-one knows who they are but they usually wear black jackets and brown pants.” (Brown uniforms are typical of the Indonesian police.)The NGO worker said, “In February 2012 there was a police sweep in Cisarua [near Bogor]. They arrested around 150 people in their homes, starting at 6 a.m.”[245]

Lack of Freedom of Movement and Restrictions on Residency

Indonesian authorities restrict asylum seekers and refugees to particular geographical areas of Indonesia, and in some cases forbid them to live outside of assigned housing. Interviewees—including recognized refugees awaiting resettlement—reported that they were rearrested if they broke these rules. International law provides for freedom of movement for refugees, such that refugees may choose where to live within their country of refuge, and may move freely around the country.[246]

Udaya V., a recognized Tamil refugee, said, “I can’t travel within Indonesia; Immigration gives us rules and regulations. I can’t go to any other island. If I do leave Sumatra I’d be put in detention again. Immigration already told us that. They told us when we left detention what our rules are.”[247] Khalid A., an Afghan refugee, arrived in Indonesia in 2010 and now lives in Medan: “Of the people I came with, I have one friend left. He’s now in Yogyjakarta. But I can’t go see him. Immigration won’t give me permission.”[248] Refugees said they had no choice which residential area they are sent to when they leave the detention facility. Sher K., an Afghan refugee, said, “I asked to go to Bogor or Yogyakarta, but they sent me to Medan.”[249]

Living center for asylum seekers and refugees in Medan, northern Sumatra. Even once released from detention, asylum seekers and refugees must live in certain areas and cannot move freely about the country. Families living here reported flooding, overflowing sewage, and concerns about neighborhood crime. © 2013 Kyle Knight / Human Rights Watch

Refugees said they feared they could be arrested for breaking these rules. Ravith N., also a Tamil refugee, told us, “I can only be in Medan. I can’t go to Jakarta. I can’t go to the airport, I can’t go to the port.… We can’t get permission to go. If I take a bus to Jakarta and I get checked by police, they will arrest us.”[250]

Khalid said immigration authorities arrested and beat him after he tried to travel from Medan to Jakarta in violation of the restrictions placed on those with refugee certificates:

I talked to a smuggler, an Indonesian man, who took us to Polonia airport [to go to Jakarta]. I paid $500. He left us in the airport, me and another Afghan man. Airport security asked for paperwork. We didn’t have one, we showed the refugee certificate. They knew better about us, they called Immigration…. Immigration came and took us to Polonia office, and after 11 days we were taken to Belawan…. After three months they sent me back to [the assigned residence in Medan].[251]

Faizullah, a 19-year-old Afghan refugee, said immigration authorities arrested him when they caught him at a friend’s apartment (outside of the assigned housing). He reported that the authorities alleged he had moved there, a violation of the rules, though he maintains he was only there for a few hours. “They put me in detention near here, at Polonia immigration center, for 24 hours … I was in a room by myself, no lawyer, nothing. For 24 hours no one came.”[252]

Lack of Work Permits and Access to School

Indonesian authorities do not allow refugees to work, contravening international standards. Children of asylum seekers have limited capacity to enroll in school (which varies by area).[253] Even when they can enroll, they face significant language barriers.

Sher K., an Afghan refugee unable to work, said, “Some people say we are living, we have a life. But I say we have no life and we are not living, we are surviving only.”[254] Shajunan P., a Tamil refugee, worried that without work he could not support his family in Sri Lanka: “My wife and children live alone there now. I worry about them, I can’t look after them.… My sons are having difficulties … because they don’t always have enough money for food or school.”[255]

Children reported that they had limited access to education in Indonesia and were waiting until they were resettled to study. “I want to study maths, I want to be an engineer,” said Delani K., a 16-year-old Tamil girl. “But I can’t do that in Indonesia. Even if I learned the Indonesian language, I wouldn’t be allowed to enroll in school.”[256] Jairaj N., a Tamil boy who came to Indonesia with his family when he was 11 years old, said,

[I]t’s not good. We cannot go to school because we are refugees…. The Indonesian government doesn’t make it possible for us to live here. I want to study maths, English, and science … I can do that when I leave here.[257]

Mirza S., from Afghanistan, said of his three children, aged 6, 8, and 16 years old: “They know things, but they have no education beyond survival. That’s what they see us doing—surviving—so that’s all they know.”[258]

Rohingya children seeking asylum with their families attend an English class sponsored by the International Organization for Migration at a living center for asylum seekers in Medan, September 2012. © 2012 Kyle Knight / Human Rights Watch

Though many children do not have access to formal education, IOM in collaboration with some local NGOs provide some informal education, including English classes, for refugees and asylum seekers who fall under IOM care.[259] Yet IOM’s programs are not sufficient to replace formal education programs. Under international law, a child’s nationality cannot act as a barrier to accessing education.[260] The Indonesian government must ensure that migrant children have full access to schools, not just to English programs or other forms of informal education that intergovernmental or nongovernmental agencies provide.