The refugees were part of a group of 81 that was transferred from Aceh in June. They had been staying at the Bukit Panembahan Hotel on Jl. Jamin Ginting – a temporary shelter managed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), where refugees await, at times for years on end, resettlement to a third country.

IOM Indonesia chief of mission Louis Hoffmann said in an official statement that 51 refugees had left their shelter as of Aug. 31, after they were recorded in the program.

“It is suspected that the refugees have left Medan in order, most probably, to reunite with family in Malaysia,” he said recently.

As a country of transit, Indonesia often hosts refugees looking to reach a third country such as Australia, often through human trafficking rings that put them on boats to navigate life-threatening journeys at sea.

While thousands still remain in shelters across the country, some – especially among the Rohingya – seek out ways to leave for places where their migrant communities are flourishing, including in Malaysia.

Hoffmann said that the IOM supported the Indonesian government’s decision to relocate Rohingya refugees to Medan, where they have access to a structured support program that includes accommodation, a modest living allowance, health care, mental health and psychosocial support, education and other referral services.

“While in Medan, IOM staff inform the refugees about the risks that they face if they choose to travel irregularly to another country. These risks include exploitation by smugglers, [...] trafficking and serious harm,” he said.

Read also: Rohingya refugee dies of COVID-19 amid lack of access to vaccines

Sonya Wallenta, a program coordinator for IOM Indonesia, said that refugees would usually stay in temporary shelters until they were registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). After being registered, they are moved to IOM-run community housing and are given skills training to prepare them for a future in a third country.

However, Wallenta said that most Rohingya refugees who arrived in June had managed to leave the shelter before registering, even though the IOM covered all their living costs and other needs.

One security guard from the Medan shelter told The Jakarta Post that refugees had many means to leave. Some would feign illness and seek permission to buy medicine, while others asked to go to the market.

“But then they just don’t return,” the guard said.

The head of Medan’s immigration detention center (Rudenim), Vincentius P. Hendratmoko, said the facility usually received reports on the movement of the Rohingya, including those who had left the country, had been repatriated or had been resettled to third countries.

As of Sept. 2, there were 261 Rohingya refugees listed in Medan, he said.

Muhammad Ilyas, a 38-year-old refugee who was part of the latest group to arrive in Medan, said that he did not want to leave because he felt comfortable.

“I did not go with the others because I want to stay here. They left Medan to go to another country to find their fathers, sisters, brothers or even their spouses,” Ilyas told the Post recently.

“Maybe they will go to Malaysia, but I don’t want to. It is enough for me to wait here [...] although, to be honest, I do wonder when my turn will come.”

The IOM’s Hoffmann said that the UNHCR had not been able to reach the group because of COVID-19 mobility restrictions.

“Once it is possible to restart the registration process, the IOM will support the UNHCR in [the process],” he said.

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