According to the research report of the Bolaq analysts network, the situation of Hazara refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia is worrying.
By publishing a 53-page research report that was conducted online through questionnaires and interviews, this network has investigated various aspects of the situation of Hazara refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia. This research report of 53 pages, including three parts and two chapters, has concluded and given some suggestions.
In the second chapter of this report, it is stated that due to not signing the 1951 Convention, Indonesia doesn’t consider itself obliged to accept asylum seekers and only acts as a transit country. Additionally, according to this research, there is only one legal document regarding asylum seekers, which was issued in 1999 by the President of Indonesia.
According to UN statistics, the number of refugees in this country is estimated at 13,100, most of whom are Hazaras.
This research report has been done with the participation of 616 refugees, some of whom answered the questions through questionnaires and some others through direct interviews. According to this report, most Afghanistani refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia are Hazaras, and their average presence in Indonesia is estimated to be ten years.
In this report, the participants have answered the questionnaires, and all of them, including their children, are denied access to the right to education in this country. They added that 15 people committed suicide due to emotional and psychological pressure, 14 of them were Hazaras.
All the participants in this research said that they are deprived of the right to work and that they cover their living expenses with the aid of the UN and IOM.
Also, most of those who participated in this research are in a bad state of mind. Disappointment and an unknown future are among the things that these refugees and asylum seekers have talked about.
On the other hand, several respondents to this research said that they face religious discrimination in the offices of the United Nations and the Indonesian government.
At the end of this report, several suggestions have been presented, the most important of which is the expansion of protests from the virtual space to the public and real space, creating a coherent institution to follow up on asylum seekers’ cases and partnering it with international institutions, and holding sports and recreational programmes to improve the mental condition of refugees.
This report comes as the Hazara refugees in Indonesia have been protesting continuously for two years. But so far, the United Nations and the Indonesian government have not given a convincing answer regarding their case.
Mohsen Ara