Asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Iran, Nepal and Pakistan gather at a
hotel in Tasikmalaya, West Java, in this file photo, after they were turned
back at sea by the Australian Navy in a failed attempt to reach Christmas
Island
Unaccompanied and underage
Most unaccompanied minors in Indonesia are boys aged between 13 and 17.
They are usually from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. Some come from Somalia
and Myanmar. They travel to Indonesia en route to Australia. Asylum seekers
deem the journey to Australia cheaper than trying to reach Europe or the United
States.
But many asylum seekers get stranded in Indonesia longer than they
assumed at first. Since Australia implemented Operation Sovereign Borders in
September 2013, very few boats with asylum seekers are departing from
Indonesia. The Australian government intercepted some that did and turned them
back to Indonesia.
They might have to wait even longer now to get resettled. In November
2014, the Australian government announced they would stop accepting refugees
registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in
Indonesia on or after July 1, 2014.
As of Aug. 31, 2014, there are 9,581 people registered with the UNHCR in
Jakarta. 5,450 of them are asylum seekers and 4,131 are refugees. 7,407 were
male and 2,174 were female. 2,652 children are currently registered with the
UNHCR, including 908 unaccompanied minors and separated children. Compared to
figures at the end of 2013, the number of children among the asylum seeker and
refugee population in Indonesia has increased by 18 percent.
Indonesia has not signed the UN Refugee Convention but it has signed the
Convention on the Rights of the Child. As an important transit country for
asylum seekers in Southeast Asia, Indonesia does have certain responsibilities
in regard to offering protection for unaccompanied minors. So far, Indonesia
has been highly reluctant to fulfill them. It has delegated many of its
responsibilities for the care of unaccompanied minors to the UNHCR and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Living in limbo
By November 2014, 950 children, including more than 440 unaccompanied
minors, were housed in immigration detention centers across Indonesia. Like
many adult asylum seekers, some minors “surrender” themselves to the Indonesian
authorities in order to be detained. This usually happens when they have run
out of resources.
Conditions for minors in detention centers in Indonesia are deplorable.
Human Rights Watch released a report in 2013 detailing that children experience
and witness violence in detention centers.
The IOM has been working with the Indonesian government to move the
children from immigration detention centers to government-run orphanages and to
provide alternative accommodation for families with children. The local partner
organization of the UNHCR in Indonesia has also established two special
shelters in Jakarta for unaccompanied minors. The conditions in these shelters
are far from ideal, but much better than in the immigration centers.
Around 120 children stay in the two shelters. They receive basic medical
care and enjoy some educational activities (IT and language courses, swimming,
futsal). None, however, attend school on a regular basis.
They receive a small allowance ($15) a week to cover their costs, such
as food. The shelters apply very strict rules, such as night curfews. Failure
to comply leads to expulsion. In order to be accepted into these shelters, some
asylum seekers pretend to be under 18.
The special shelters have limited capacity to meet a growing demand.
Newly arrived asylum seekers have to depend on friends or new acquaintances for
accommodation. Young men often rent cheap rooms in Jakarta. Latest observations
revealed that more and more asylum seeker children are forced to sleep on the
street or in mosques.
Asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia have no legal rights to work
and earn money. Monthly stipends from the UNHCR are only available for a small
number of vulnerable cases. Asylum seekers under the care of the IOM receive
higher monthly stipends. But in Indonesia, asylum seekers and refugees often
face extortion, which makes it hard to make ends meet.
At the beginning of their journey, most asylum seekers would have money
or be able to rely on remittances from back home or friends elsewhere. Usually
these funds dry out the longer they are stuck in transit. Some asylum seekers
have tried to enter the informal employment sector, such as working as
motorbike taxi drivers, but the local population oppose such attempts. Next to
surrendering to immigration detention, some asylum seekers (including minors)
give in to sex work and other forms of exploitation.
Unaccompanied minors in Indonesia can undergo the bureaucratic process
to get refugee status and apply for international protection. However, they
have no access to legal aid. Without a legal guardian, they face even more
obstacles dealing with international protection regime. Even adults find the
process of providing detailed evidence to prove they need protection difficult.
The long waiting times in Indonesia cause substantial stress among both
minor and adult asylum seekers. Not knowing what the future will hold for them
and where they will end up going, some try to numb their sorrows through
substance abuse.
Infantilization of
migration
Children have always made up a significant proportion of the international
refugee population. But recently, scholars have started talking about the
“infantilization of migration.” More and more children are compelled to leave
their homelands — with or without their families — in search of asylum.
While most children travel with their parents, some have been separated
from their kin or became orphaned before or during the journey.
In some cases, parents send their underage children ahead as “lead
migrants” as they lack the money required to flee with the entire family. They
hope the child could be the key figure for a potential family reunion outside
of their country of origin. Families are mostly motivated by the hope to escape
wars and conflict in their home or transit countries. Potential education and
employment in the host country might also serve as incentive. Children’s search
for asylum is often facilitated by exploitative and abusive arrangements,
during and sometimes after the journey.
Another reason for why children travel on their own is to make use of
the few remaining gaps in the restrictive asylum policies of the West. Many
potential destination countries have special protection for people under 18. It
is usually harder (but not impossible) for transit or destination countries to
deport minors.
That said, after going through the arduous journey, minors have slim
chances to be resettled even when found to be genuine refugees. Many countries,
including Australia, refuse to accept underage refugees in order to avoid
claims for family reunion.
Antje Missbach is a lecturer in anthropology at Monash University.
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