Page 29 - 10th Annual International Charles Town Maroon Conference and Festival Magazine

Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine June 2018

IndefInIte detentIon:

Caring for Refugees in Indonesia as performance

Erfan Dana

My name is Erfan, I will be 21 years of age this year, Refugee Convention. However, the location functions
2018. I am originally from Afghanistan. I felt as a transit route for refugees. At this point in time, this
threatened and obliged to flee my motherland due to transit country has been treating refugees with
ongoing war and everyday fighting in Afghanistan. I resentment. Refugee claims receive little attention and
arrived in Indonesia in 2014 when I was only 17 years processing their dossiers is slow. In addition to the
of age. Since then I have been incarcerated and in a oppressive feeling of resentment, refugees also expe-
state of constant uncertainty in one of Indonesia’s rience additional strain from Indonesian institutions
detention centres, After many years of imprisonment, set up to deal with immigration issues.
I still don’t know how much longer my fellow inmates
The photos provided are testament to the very poor
and I have to stay in this prison camp.
conditions that the refugees experience while detained.
In most detention centres here the authorities do not
allow refugees to use computers. And they do not
At the moment Indonesia has approximately 14,000
allow the International Organisation for Migration
refugees and asylum seekers from many different
(IOM) to provide adequate medical and psychological
countries. In the last few years the number has
care. As a result, refugees incarcerated in Indonesia
increased rapidly, reaching the highest figures to date.
suffer from immense mental and physical pain.
This is due to factors such as Australia blocking entry
Authorities also interfere with attempts to provide
by sea, and that countries that have traditionally
refugees with decent and much needed recreational
welcomed refugees have reduced their settlement
activities. In many ways their behaviour towards
quotas regarding refugeesfrom Indonesia.
detainees is rude and dismissive, even aggressive.
Indonesia has never been a country known for
But beyond all these issues, there is a broader concern
welcoming refugees; it is not a signatory to the UN
that is extremely important and receives little attention.

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