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Child refugees muse over what Ramadan means
Paint it up: Child refugees paint while waiting for iftar during a Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar event held over the weekend in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta
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aint it up: Child refugees paint while waiting for iftar during a Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar event held over the weekend in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.(JP/Dames Alexander Sinaga)
Having been an asylum seeker for three years, 15-year-old Umar Nasir from Ethiopia is getting used to observing Ramadan in Indonesia.
Nasir, his parents and elder sister fled their war-torn hometown of Jimma in 2017. The way Indonesian Muslims observe Ramadan has struck him particularly.
“[Ramadan] here is a bit quiet. In my country, people’s mobility remains high during Ramadan even though they are fasting,” he said on Saturday during a gathering in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
Nasir recalled he had little to do during his first Ramadan in Indonesia as he had few friends back then. Besides, he only spoke broken Indonesian. “I would only go to the mosque and go back home right after.” One year later, his loneliness was gone as his Indonesian was good enough to let him make more friends.
Nasir and his family live in a rented house in Manggarai, South Jakarta. They moved from Depok, West Java, where they were in a facility provided by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The family fled Ethiopia in the wake of civil strife pitting two ethnic groups, the Oromo, to which Nasir belongs, and the Gedeo.
The family was granted UN refugee status in 2017. International refugees use Indonesia as a transit point while they are seeking permanent resettlement in Western countries, such as Australia and the United States.
Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention — a UN treaty that defines the term “refugees”, outlines their rights and sets the obligations of receiving countries to protect them.
According to the UNHCR, in 2018 Indonesia hosted about14,000 asylum seekers and refugees, mostly from Afghanistan.
Among other castaways present in the gathering was Fraidun Karimi from Afghanistan, who lives in Tebet. They moved in from Cisarua in Bogor, West Java some 18 months ago.
With his fellow Afghan refugees, he usually attends regular prayers and iftar gatherings at a Tebet mosque. The 14-year-old said although his Indonesian was still poor, his local friends did not mind.
Despite the language barrier, Karimi is eager to share in the Indonesian language his story about Ramadan in Afghanistan, which he sums up as “lively”.
When breaking the fast, Afghan family members sit around a dining table. The most common food is Kabuli palaw, which consists of steamed rice mixed with raisins, carrots and lamb. Afterward, they usually set off firecrackers that produce various colors as they explode.
Karimi has experienced two Ramadans in Indonesia. Out of his homesickness, he wishes he could emulate the Ramadan in his home country. He has tried, but to no avail, to find the firecrackers and Kabuli palaw in Tebet.
“Sometimes, I miss the Ramadan in my hometown so much,” he said.
While awaiting their resettlement in a third country, Nasir and Karimi attend the School for Refugees founded by a Jakarta-based Muslim philanthropic organization, Dompet Dhuafa.
On Saturday, about 40 child refugees and youths, as well as 30 local children, flocked to the Gerakan Indonesia Mengajar (Indonesian Teaching Movement) headquarters in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta.
Initiated by Dompet Dhuafa, the event was attended by child refugees from countries such as Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, Somalia and Yemen.
During the event, people from various professions, like flight attendants, reporters, photographers, doctors, painters, chefs and lawyers, volunteered to share their experiences and inspiration with the children.
The School for Refugees principal, Sidik Eka Hermawan, said the event was aimed at helping child refugees practice their Indonesian language skills learned at the school with local children.
“We also want to make the child refugees dream of and think about who they want to be,” he said, adding that many child refugees have yet to attend schools.
The gathering was also intended for them to muse about what Ramadan celebrations in Indonesia mean for them. (das)
