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Jakarta Post

Resistance grows against asylum seekers at shelter, sidewalks

Nowhere to go: An asylum seeker takes a rest on a sidewalk in Kalideres, West Jakarta, on Aug

The Jakarta Post
Jakarta
Sat, September 21, 2019

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Resistance grows against asylum seekers at shelter, sidewalks

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owhere to go: An asylum seeker takes a rest on a sidewalk in Kalideres, West Jakarta, on Aug. 23. The Jakarta administration ended its aid to asylum seekers on Aug. 31 and forced them to leave their temporary shelter in Kalideres.(JP/Rafaela Chandra)

Amid the uncertainty encasing their lives in transit city Jakarta, asylum seekers are facing rejections from various parties at a temporary shelter in Kalideres, West Jakarta and the sidewalks of Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta, where hundreds have limited resources.

More than a dozen parents of students from Dian Harapan Daan Mogot school, located next to the shelter, which is a former building of the West Jakarta Military Command (Kodim), held a community cleanup activity on the sidewalks in front of the building on Monday.

The cleanup was prompted by the stench of urine allegedly caused by asylum seekers.

Erin, one of the students’ parents who helped coordinate the cleanup, said the activity was organized so as to not further anger locals and prevent clashes.

“We also want the environment to be clean to prevent health problems that may emerge,” she said.

Erin added that after the idea was brought up last week, the parents immediately asked for permission from the school and local authorities to hold the activity.

The authorities helped clean inside the shelter, while locals, accompanied by personnel from the West Jakarta Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) and disaster mitigation and emergency response unit members, cleaned the sidewalks in front of the building.

“We are not at issue with them as people because we understand their situation. We know they have needs as human beings. In fact, we often buy the children there ice cream and give them dolls to play with,” said Erin.

“What we do not understand is their placement here. If the Jakarta administration and the UNHCR looked at the conditions here, they would see that it is too close to places of business and the school,” she said, referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

However, Ratih Novitasari, head of social community Selasih, short for Selaras dan Penuh Kasih (In Harmony and Caring for Love), brushed off the allegation that the asylum seekers urinated carelessly, as she claimed she regularly monitored the place.

“They have one portable toilet at the shelter and the water is running," she said, adding that the asylum seekers also used restrooms at nearby prayer rooms, bus terminals, supermarkets and soccer fields.

When The Jakarta Post paid a visit to the shelter on Tuesday, large banners were mounted on the front fence of the shelter.

One of the banners says: “UNHCR is irresponsible. Bring all asylum seekers with you.”

Just behind the fence, some of the asylum seekers were seen using the portable toilet located in the front yard, while some others entered the building with wet hair, claiming to have just finished showering and doing laundry in public restrooms.

Electricity was turned off at the shelter in late August following a decision by the city administration to end its aid. However, Sayed Rahmatullah, 35, a refugee from Afghanistan, said the asylum seekers living there had spared their own cash for the prepaid meter charge.

“The water is still running,” said Sayed. “We line up to use that portable toilet. If we are in hurry to use one, we go to the public restrooms, which only charge us Rp 2,000 (14 US cents) to Rp 5,000.”

The asylum seekers staying at the shelter are those who did not take the compensation offered by the UNHCR in August. Hundreds of others have moved out of the shelter and sought their own accommodation.

However, it was only recently that 53 of those who had moved out returned to sidewalks near the UNHCR’s office on Jl. Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, where they used to reside in July before being relocated to the shelter.

Wire fencing had been installed on the sidewalks in front of the office to prevent the asylum seekers from occupying the place. As a result, the refugees took over the sidewalks in front of the neighboring Bank Perkreditan Rakyat Gamon and Shanghai Blue restaurant.

Maira, 17, a refugee from Afghanistan, claimed that the compensation of Rp 1.3 million she and her 53-year-old father and 42-year-old mother received had run out. They used Rp 800,000 to rent a room, Rp 100,000 on electricity and the rest for food.

“This is the only place we can stay, even though some of us have been called into the office as representatives of each family to be given a warning letter to leave,” she said.

Maira showed the letter, which states: “Please be informed that your decision to stay in front of the UNHCR office is placing you and your family at risk of arrest by Indonesian authorities, as your actions are in violation of Jakarta’s bylaw on public order.”

Apart from that, in the last five days, Maira said they had been banned from entering Al-Rayyan Mosque across the street.

“We are not allowed to use the restroom in the mosque like we did before. We are not even allowed to pray there,” she said. “For the past few days, we prayed at a mosque about 250 meters from here and used the public restroom not far from there.”

Asylum seekers at the shelter and on the sidewalks said they were aware that they had a slim chance of going to a third country for the time being and were only hoping for enough food to eat and space to sleep. (syk)

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