Australia Should Brace for another Refugee Flow Between Trump and
Jokowi's Refugee Policy
A
draft of a White House Executive Order to be signed by United States President
Trump outlines Trump's plan on limiting entry to immigrants and refugees. The
order includes plans to temporarily suspend refugee resettlement admissions,
block Syrian refugees, and cut more than half of the US's refugee intake —
effectively strengthening the anti-refugee and anti-Muslim sentiments exploited
during his presidential campaign. But how would Trump's plans affect Indonesia
and what impact would this have on Australia?
Refugees
commonly travel to Indonesia as a transit to be resettled in other countries,
such as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US. However, Australia has
closed its doors to asylum seekers and refugees registered in Indonesia after
2014, despite the fact that the number of asylum seekers has increased
dramatically in the last three years. Consequently, Indonesia has been
disproportionately burdened. Due to the lack of resources, detention centers
are overcrowded with both voluntarily and involuntarily detained asylum
seekers.
On Dec. 31,
2016, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo signed a presidential decree
that outlines the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees from abroad. The
decree provides a definition of "refugees" based on the 1951
Convention of Refugees, and regulates the protocol in handling asylum seekers
and refugees who arrive in Indonesia, including search and rescue operations in
emergency situations. It assigns the distribution of role for each related
institutions, mainly under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Law
and Human Rights, in addition to regulating the funds needed in the assistance
to the state budget and other legitimate sources.
This
newly-issued presidential regulation is a significant initiative from the
Indonesian government. It sets an exemplary precedent for other countries in
the region and confirms Indonesia's commitment to extend civilized treatment
based on human rights to people fleeing persecution and violent conflicts in
their home country. A UNHCR report notes a total of 13,829 persons of concern
(refugees and asylum seekers) in Indonesia as of February; most of
them come from Afghanistan, followed by Myanmar and other conflict-ridden
countries such as Syria, Somalia, and Iraq.
As Indonesia
is a non-signatory of the UN's 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol,
treatment of asylum seekers and refugees has been largely based on the
Immigration Law and the jurisdiction of local authorities. Without a clear
definition of the term, refugees were often classified as illegal immigrants
and were exposed to threats of detainment. This regulation thus fills the
vacuum of legal framework in handling refugees and asylum seekers in the
country.
An asylum
seeker who has been residing in Cisarua, West Java, for a year warmly welcomes
the decree.
"It is
for the first time that I have felt valued here. It gives us hope. Most
refugees have been stuck here in limbo for 4-5 years. Hopefully we can have our
basic rights now. It is an initiative which paves ground for further positive
steps like building an understanding with host countries to boost the
resettlement process," he says.
It should be
noted that while the Indonesian government should be commended for this step,
the regulation still needs further clarifications. The decree introduces the
arrangement of shelters for refugees, coordinated by the Immigration Detention
Center and the local government. The latter is responsible to allocate the
place and provide basic necessities such as clean water, food, and health
services. The Immigration Detention Center is also required to provide identity
cards, although it is ambiguous whether it is to issue identity cards only to
residents of the shelter or to all transit asylum seekers and refugees in
Indonesia. Currently, refugees are only equipped with identity papers from the
UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
This form of
emergency response may be adequate to address circumstances of the mass
migration of asylum seekers and refugees, such as the Rohingya crisis in 2015.
However, it does not specify whether the implementation of the regulation would
extend to existing urban refugees, who have been in the country for years while
waiting for their resettlement. With no refugee camps available, a majority of
them reside in urban areas with no or limited access to health care, education,
and other forms of support. This lack of clarity may cause confusion among both
concerned officials and the refugee community, and would benefit from more
specific implementing regulations.
SUAKA, an
Indonesian network for refugee rights protection, has recommended that the
Indonesian government disseminate the decree widely while ensuring compliance
from local government agencies. This is imperative to ensure that all
government officials are well-equipped with the knowledge of the situation to
avoid backlash on the already vulnerable people, such as a previous statement
from a government official that refugees bring more harm than good to the local
community. The media should also be briefed on the issue, as failure to
differentiate asylum seekers and refugees from economic migrants largely
influences how the local people view the refugee community.
As a transit
country, Indonesia holds an important role in ensuring that asylum seekers and
refugees are provided with best durable solutions, including resettlement. With
the US being the country with the largest number of refugee intake, Trump's
policy to suspend refugees from resettlement in the US will lead to a greater
burden on transit countries, most of which — like Indonesia — are
under-resourced to deal with a massive influx of people.
While
measures should be taken to implement the presidential decree and future
implementing regulations to ensure that asylum seekers and refugees are
afforded their basic rights to access protection and security without
discrimination, it will not be enough without further diplomatic lobbies to
urge host countries, such as Australia and the US, to act based on the
principles of shared responsibility.
Shaffira D.
Gayatri is an individual member of Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APPRN);
Mohammad Baqir Bayani is the co-founder and co-director of
refugeesofindonesia.com, who lives in Indonesia as a person seeking asylum.
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