Ahmadiyah followers seek asylum

Dicky Christanto and Adianto P. Simamora ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar, Jakarta   |  Fri, 05/16/2008 12:39 PM  |  Headlines

Six followers of the Ahmadiyah Islamic sect sought political asylum at the Australian and German consulates in Denpasar, Bali, on Thursday.

The six traveled from neighboring Lombok Island to seek asylum. They arrived at the Australian Consulate at around 10:30 a.m.

The asylum seekers said they were among 138 Ahmadiyah members languishing at temporary shelters in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, after being driven from their homes by mob attacks in 2006.

They said seeking asylum was a last resort as they continued to face physical and mental harassment from Muslim hard-liners. They said the situation would only worsen if the government went ahead with its plan to ban Ahmadiyah.

After failing to meet the Australian consul, the group went to the German Consulate, where they also failed to meet the consul.

I Nengah Jimat of the Bali Legal Aid Institute, who accompanied the asylum seekers, said the two consulates refused to respond to their request for asylum.

"We were told to go to Jakarta. They say they don't deal with anything political down here," he said.

Australian Embassy spokeswoman Jenny Dee said she was not authorized to comment on the issue right now.

The German Embassy's first secretary, Wallau Anja, could not be reached for comment.

"We are closely monitored by hard-liners almost 24 hours a day, as if they were police officers and we were criminals," Sarim Ahmad, one of the asylum seekers, told The Jakarta Post outside the Australian Consulate.

"If we do anything they consider to be heretical, such as gathering for prayers, they will start harassing us and throwing rocks at us.

"So, what kind of a life is this?" he said.

Sarim, who is a construction worker, said he was unable to find work and support his family because of the constant harassment.

"Now we are here to knock on the neighbor' doors, asking for their help to let us in because we are unwanted in our own country," he said.

Sahidin, a fellow asylum seeker, said their children were intimidated by classmates because their parents were Ahmadiyah members.

"Many of our children have dropped out of school because they can't stand being intimidated all the time," he said.

The government is drafting a joint ministerial decree to ban Ahmadiyah following a recommendation last month by the Coordinating Board for Mystical Beliefs in Society, which labeled the group "heretical".

Moderate Muslims and human rights group have rejected the planned ban on constitutional and human rights grounds, while hard-liners have demanded the government issue the decree immediately.

In Cimahi, West Java, a ban has been imposed on Ahmadiyah despite a decree against the sect yet to be issued by the central government.

Cimahi Mayor Itoc Tochija ordered authorities to seal off Ahmadiyah mosques to stop sect members from performing their religious obligations.

An Asian interfaith dialogue being held in Jakarta heard Thursday that upholding freedom of religion requires a nation to protect and embrace all religious groups, including Ahmadiyah.

"If we talk about respecting human rights, we have to give more space for different sects like Ahmadiyah," Indonesian Communion of Churches vice chairman Jan Aritonang told the pre-assembly of the Asian Conference on Religions and Peace.

He said there were hundreds of groups claiming to be Christian denominations that did not believe in Jesus Christ.

"In Christianity, we have different doctrines but we don't have the right to forbid them from practicing their faith. Neither does the government have the right to ban them," he said.

Secretary-general of the Indonesian Committee on Religion for Peace, Theophilus Bela, asked the government to take action against any groups that burned mosques or other properties belonging to Ahmadiyah.

"Ahmadiyah followers are human beings. Violence against them goes against the values of humanity. It is the government's duty to protect them," he told the forum. Cimahi -- Page 12

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