Durian. Hundreds of refugees, who are stranded in Indonesia, held a peaceful rally in front of Australian embassy in Jakarta on Friday.
They called Australian government under newly sworn in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to speed the process of refugees’ resettlement.
According to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), about 13,500 asylum seekers and refugees stay in Indonesia currently, mostly from Afghanistan, Somalia and Myanmar. Many of them have stranded in Indonesia more than five years without sufficient access to basic human rights, including livelihood as they are not allowed to work under the country’s laws.
They have stranded for years because of almost zero percent of resettlement to a new country, which are signatory countries of the Refugee Convention, such as Australia, the U.S. and Canada, due to their domestic policies related with immigration.
In 2012, Australia as the nearest neighbour of Indonesia, close its doors for asylum seekers and gives harsh punishment for those who entering the country through illegal gates.
The U.S. government under President Donald Trumph also imposed an immigration regulation which closes its door for asylum seekers from certain countries.
Such regulations have contributed to slowing resettlement process and caused asylum seekers and refugees stay longer in transit countries, including Indonesia.
Indonesia allows asylum seekers to enter the country and stay while waiting for their resettlement process based on humanitarian grounds.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and entourage scheduled to visit Indonesia from June 5 through 7 of June.
