In Focus

“Because of hope our life continues. If life gives us a hundred reasons to cry, we hope we have a thousand reasons to smile. If we want to have a better life, our hope will bring us there. One refugee without hope is too many.” This message was read by refugee representatives of five communities: Arabic, Afghani, Sri Lankan, Chinese, and Somali in their language; it was also read in Bahasa Indonesia and English on 2011 World Refugee Day commemoration hosted by Church World Service.

2011 World Refugee Day's theme is one refugee without hope is too many. In the 2011 commemoration about 350 UNHCR persons of concern gathered in Bogor Botanical Garden.
(Iim Imanuel Hutagalung/ CWS indonesia)

Although facing uncertainty whether to return to home country or to be resettled in elsewhere, refugees in Indonesia continue hoping for better life in the future.  Naguleswari, 28, fled Sri Lanka with her husband, two children, and a baby in her womb a couple years ago because of security concerns in their hometown. They took a boat from Sri Lanka with hundreds of other going to Australia, yet intercepted with Indonesian authorities on Java Sea. Despite of her past, she still believes that there will be a bright future for her family, especially for her children. “I want my children to get good education, go to college,” told Naguleswari. And, that is hope.

As of January 2011, UNHCR’ population of concern both refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia was 2,882. They do not know how long the waiting period could be. It could be for a couple of months or even years, it all depends on many factors. Some would return if their home country is now safe and others would have to wait until another country would accept them. But local integration in Indonesia is not an option for them as Indonesian Government is not yet a signatory state to the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.

However, some refugees have stayed here for over a decade; many of them even speak local languages. Tarnyin, 30s, from Burma/Myanmar has been staying here for over ten years. He speaks local languages, Bahasa Indonesia and Sundanese, fluently. He hopes that he can get a solution to his problem very soon. He wishes to go to Australia and raise a family there. On the other hand, Aadan Mualim, who lost his family in a bomb blast over a decade ago in hometown, Somalia, feels comfortable living in Indonesia where he can observe his religion.

On WRD, which is commemorated annually on June 20, about 300 refugees and asylum seekers gathered in Bogor Botanical Garden together with CWS, UNHCR, JRS, IOM, and World Relief staffers. “Today is a happy day for me and other refugees. A day when we can put aside our problem for a little while,” said Naguleswari, who came there that day to participate in flowers arrangement and culinary competitions and to support her children who performed Sri Lankan dances.

CWS held some competition and races. Women, men and children looked excited participating in a sack race. Some refugees admitted that this was their first time racing in a sack. Seeing how fun the race was made more participants interested to join. Another interesting activity was the culinary competition. Representatives of each community cooked their home country’s traditional food. A lot of people crowded the area, as they would like to taste the food from Somalia, Afghanistan, Iran, Palestine, and Sri Lanka. Children, whether they were refugees or from local community, were given opportunity to be creative. Drawing and coloring competitions were prepared for them; parents were not allowed to help. On the other side of the tent, flowers arrangement competition was held to channel women’s creativity. Although they were not professional florist, they were pretty talented.

In addition to the competitions, the audience was also entertained by some performances. A group of young Afghanis performed a couple of songs about their country and their hope. Wearing a pretty orange-salmon colored traditional outfit with some dazzling accessories, a little girl performed a dance from Sri Lanka. She stunned the audience with her performance. Another performance was drama musical by children of local community. They hope that their refugee friends who should have gone to school could get their education in Indonesia while waiting for long-term solution.

Naguleswari earlier said that her fellow refugees used to fill their day with sadness, frustration and despair, thinking about what happened back then in their home country and thinking about their uncertain future. But now activities provided by CWS have helped them to get through day by day. A farm has been opened next to refugee center in Cipayung, Bogor for the refugees. Neminathan from Sri Lanka is one of those who benefit from the farm. He has harvested his farm so many times and sold the product to local market and community. “I hope I can continue working on my farm here and when I’m resettled in somewhere else someday I would still be able to use my skill in farming,” said Nemi, as others call him. Other activities like English, Bahasa Indonesia and other classes are made available in the refugee center by CWS. Supported by United Nations High Commissionaire for Refugee or UNHCR, CWS is able to facilitate many activities for both referred refugees and asylum seekers waiting for a long-term solution.

For Naguleswari, Tarnyin, Aadan Mualim, Neminathan, and the other refugees in Indonesia, hope is all they got. In this year World Refugee Day, they were reminded that there would still be hope and one refugee without hope is too many.