Afghan refugees in ‘limbo’ in Indonesia sew their mouths shut in protest

Demonstrations, including one in which a man set himself on fire, have taken place across the country as refugees despair at waiting years for resettlement

There are some 13,000 refugees in Indonesia, but as permanent settlement is forbidden they must wait for a third country, such as the US, to take them in

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Refugees in Pekanbaru in Riau sewed their lips shut in protest at their lack of resettlement status. Photo: Handout

Published: 1:04pm, 14 Dec 2021

Nabi*, an Afghan refugee in Indonesia, has spent the past month demonstrating outside the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) building in the city of Pekanbaru with other refugees, seeking clarity about their resettlement status. When no answer was forthcoming, on December 3 Nabi and three other refugees took needles and thread and sewed their lips shut.

“Absolutely it hurt,” he said. “It was so painful. But staying in Indonesia every day with no news is even more painful.”

Nabi, who is Hazara, a minority group persecuted in Afghanistan, left in 2013 to escape the brutal Taliban regime and has been waiting to be permanently resettled ever since. He said he was considering setting himself on fire as the next step.

“If UNHCR doesn’t want to help us then that is the best option. Instead of dying a little every day, it is better to die once,” he said.

The demonstration in Pekanbaru was part of a series of wider protests by Afghan refugees in cities across Indonesia in recent weeks, in a sign of increasing despair among the 13,000 or so refugees from places such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Myanmar, some of whom have been in limbo in Indonesia for over a decade.

It was so painful. But staying in Indonesia every day with no news is even more painful

Nabi

In recent weeks there have been demonstrations in Pekanbaru, Makassar and Jakarta, with refugees taking to the streets with banners to demand resettlement in a third country and erecting temporary camps and sit-ins outside UNHCR offices.