Foreigners wait for release from cells<\/p>\n
By Joko E.H. Anwar<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A number of small children were seen on Monday
\nputting their hands through bars of a window while screaming
\nplayfully from a cell on the second floor of a two-story building
\non Jl. Peta Barat in Kalideres, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
From their appearance and the language they spoke, the kids
\nwere obviously not Indonesians. They were Indian children,
\ndetained with their parents in the immigration quarantine.<\/p>\n
Dozens of foreigners including Burmese, South Africans,
\nArmenians, and Indians have been detained in the quarantine for
\nvarious immigration violations.<\/p>\n
From the outsiders, the immigration quarantine facility looks
\nvery similar to any other building.<\/p>\n
But anyone able to pass through the multi-layered bureaucracy
\nand enter the compound soon notices that the building is no
\ndifferent from other prisons.<\/p>\n
In a visit on Monday, after a lengthy bureaucratic procedure,
\nThe Jakarta Post learned that the quarantine comprised several
\nblocks with small cells for the inmates.<\/p>\n
Many of them have been locked up for years and have almost
\ngiven up hope that their respective governments will help them
\nreturn home.<\/p>\n
\"People here have contacted their embassies but the embassies
\ndid nothing to help,\" a 35-year-old Indian inmate, Bhaksi (not
\nhis real name), told the Post.<\/p>\n
Last week, for example, one frustrated inmate committed
\nsuicide, he explained.<\/p>\n
\"A Burmese who had been locked up for six years hanged himself
\nthree days ago,\" Bhaksi said.<\/p>\n
Bhaksi refused to disclose the crime he committed but said
\nthat most of the inmates were being held for overstaying.<\/p>\n
Bhaksi was interrupted by an Indian song being sung very
\nloudly in a nearby cell.<\/p>\n
He hastily shouted down the row of cells: \"Hey! Keep it down
\nfor five minutes! OK?\"<\/p>\n
The song stopped, followed by some soft grumbling from the
\nunseen man.<\/p>\n
According to an employee there are 110 foreigners currently
\nbeing detained inside the building -- most cannot speak
\nIndonesian or English.<\/p>\n
There were four young Indians next to Bhaksi's cell who have
\nbeen detained for overstaying expired visas.<\/p>\n
\"Can you help me, Sir?\" asked Danny Fernandes, 24, from the
\nnext cell.<\/p>\n
The question seems to be the normal greeting from inmates to
\nvisitors.<\/p>\n
Like other prisons, the inmates' stories vary.<\/p>\n
Danny, one of 14 young Indians, claimed that he and his
\nfriends were recruited by an Indian agent as crew for an
\nIndonesian cargo ship called Al Makkah.<\/p>\n
\"We were promised employment on the ship and the agent said he
\nwould pay 15,000 rupees or $375 a month. Each of us had to pay
\n$1,100 to join,\" Danny said.<\/p>\n
He explained that most of them were from poor families.<\/p>\n
\"Our family borrowed the money from relatives for the job
\nhere, he said.<\/p>\n
Danny who shares a two meters by two meters cell with three
\nfriends said the Indian agent, Chandra Khalul, sent them to an
\nIndonesian, Kusdi S., who claimed to own the ship through his
\ncompany PT Raudah Bakti Trans.<\/p>\n
They arrived in Jakarta on May 24 and were picked up by Kusdi,
\nwho promised to employ them soon and renew their visas. But Kusdi
\nnever kept his promise and the Indians were arrested by
\nImmigration officials and sent to the quarantine on June 18.<\/p>\n
\"They were all fake companies and agents,\" Bhaksi said. \"The
\nimmigration was not wrong (for detaining the young Indians),
\nthose bogus companies were.\"<\/p>\n
\"We called the Indian Embassy many times but they did not want
\nto help,\" Danny said.<\/p>\n
\"The cost of a ticket is only $350 to $400 but the Indian
\nEmbassy demanded $1,000 for the ticket,\" Bhaksi said with Danny
\nconfirming the allegation.<\/p>\n
No one could be reached at the Indian Embassy when the Post
\ncalled for confirmation.<\/p>\n
Danny said that the quarantine is also home to many hungry
\nthieves, who will take anything, including underwear.<\/p>\n
Danny has had a walkman tape player and six pairs of underwear
\nstolen.<\/p>\n
\"Why would anyone steal someone's underwear?\" Danny said.<\/p>\n
Passing other cells in Block C, several inmates voiced polite
\ngreetings.<\/p>\n
A 19-year-old Burmese, Suisu, who did not speak Indonesian or
\nEnglish asked his 20-year-old cellmate, Hilicai, who spoke a
\nlittle Indonesian to tell the Post that he had been detained for
\nthree years.<\/p>\n
\"It was his friend who hanged himself three days ago,\" Hilicai
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
In one cell, a child, appearing to be about nine years old,
\nwas asleep on a mattress next to his father.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/foreigners-wait-for-release-from-cells-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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