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Afghan refugee sets himself on fire at Medan protest
UNHCR Indonesia coordinating with authorities to ensure necessary treatment for recovery
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young Afghan man is being treated for third-degree burns after he set himself on fire during a protest on Tuesday, in front of the Medan office of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) in North Sumatra.
The man, who has been identified as 22-year-old Ahmadsyah, attempted to take his own life by dousing himself in gasoline and lighting it. A coordinator of the protest said that Ahmadsyah had apparently resorted to self-immolation out of desperation from living in legal limbo for years in Indonesia.
Fellow protesters failed to prevent the man from setting himself alight, The Jakarta Post observed, but local security guards acted quickly to put out the flames with buckets of water as the man ran around while on fire.
Ahmadsyah was sent to nearby Siloam Hospital for emergency treatment. According to Muhammad Juma, the coordinator of the protest, around 70 percent of Ahmadsyah’s body is covered in burns. Juma also suggested that the young refugee was battling with depression.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Afghan refugees continued their protest at the UNHCR’s Medan office.
UNHCR Indonesia spokesperson Dwi Prafitria said the agency was looking into the incident and coordinating with the authorities to ensure that Ahmadsyah was being provided with the necessary treatment for recovery.
“UNHCR is deeply concerned about the incident,” she told reporters on Tuesday evening.
Read also: Living 'ghosts': Afghan people share their ordeals as refugees in Indonesia
Juma said this was not the first time a refugee had attempted self-immolation. At least two dozen Afghan refugees had previously set themselves on fire. Six survived.
“This is the seventh person we saved who was experiencing undue stress and fighting depression from living in limbo for around seven years,” Juma told reporters in front of the UNHCR office in Medan.
The majority of the people who attempted self-immolation were forcibly displaced Afghan nationals whose demands had fallen on deaf ears. “In the end, [Ahmadsyah] lost all patience and came here to set himself on fire,” he said.
Juma, who is also an Afghan refugee, expressed his concern that similar incidents could occur until proper action was taken. He called on the Indonesian government to find “the best solution for the future” of the Afghan refugee community in the country.
He emphasized that given the return of the Taliban regime, the international community was acutely aware that repatriation to Afghanistan was no longer a safe option for refugees, so they were left with asking “for resettlement to a third country or for [Indonesian] citizenship”.
Separately, North Sumatra Governor Edy Rahmayadi expressed his regret over the incident, but declined responsibility over offering any solutions. “We regret that this happened, but it is not under our authority,” he said.
Afghan refugees make up 50 percent of the tens of thousands of asylum seekers stuck in legal limbo in Indonesia. The government has no obligation to take in or provide for refugees, but often does so on humanitarian grounds.
The Medan administration has taken in about 2,000 refugees to date. While many are transient, some have been living in the provincial capital for 10 years. Their living expenses are covered by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the UN migration agency, while they await repatriation or resettlement to a third country.
