Jl. Jaksa turns into 'Little Afghanistan'<\/p>\n
Bronwyn Curran, Agence France-Presse, Jakarta<\/p>\n
On the Indonesian capital's backpacker strip,
\nthe halternecks and sandals of over-sunned western travelers are
\nbut a memory. In their place, bearded chess-players sipping sweet
\ntea and echoed greetings of assalamu allaikum.<\/p>\n
Welcome to Jakarta's new Little Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The budget hostels that line the half-kilometer-long strip
\nknown as Jalan Jaksa are currently home to dozens of Afghan
\nasylum-seekers.<\/p>\n
This is where their dreams of sanctuary from the now-ousted
\nTaliban regime have brought them. Most have lost an average
\nUS$4,000 each to unscrupulous people-smugglers who promised them
\npassage to Australia, then abandoned them to flimsy fishing
\nvessels that sank or broke down off Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Now the Afghans are trying their luck with the United Nations
\nHigh Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which is determining
\nwhether they deserve the title of refugee and the guarantee of a
\nnew home.<\/p>\n
The UNHCR has 476 refugee applications from Afghans stranded
\nhere, which it has suspended processing following the fall of the
\nTaliban regime.<\/p>\n
On average only one in five Afghans in Indonesia wins the
\nstatus and of these, many wait months or years until the UNHCR
\ncan find a third country willing to accept them.<\/p>\n
The International Organization for Migration pays for their
\nlodging in the backpacker hostels, which welcome the business
\nafter months of watching tourists desert Indonesia in droves.<\/p>\n
With the Taliban routed after months of U.S.-led bombardment,
\nsome have talked of abandoning the anguished search for a new
\ncountry and returning home, according to UNHCR protection officer
\nDaniel Juliadi.<\/p>\n
But of the 10 Afghan men and boys gathered around a chessboard
\nin the courtyard of the Wisma Delima hostel, only one wants to go
\nhome.<\/p>\n
\"The government now is good,\" says Muhammad Akbar, an elderly
\nfarmer from outside Kabul who has been in Indonesia for over a
\nyear and taken two failed boat trips.<\/p>\n
\"I'd like to go home. But I've been told to wait because the
\nairport is broken and they're still repairing it.\"<\/p>\n
Akbar's compatriots, however, share little of his desire.<\/p>\n
\"Now I hear the people have some problems with the mujahedin,\"
\nsays Muhammad Yusuf, a former police officer with the mujahedin
\nregime that was ousted by the Taliban in 1996.<\/p>\n
\"I cannot go back.\"<\/p>\n
Yusuf lost US$12,000 to a Malaysian people-smuggler in
\nIndonesia who arranged a fake French passport and plane tickets
\nto New York from Jakarta. He was caught in Hong Kong, deported
\nback to Jakarta and arrested. He says he bribed his way out of
\njail for $1,000.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Daud, a former commander with the army of communist
\nleader Najibullah, ousted in 1992, also cites tensions among
\nAfghanistan's many factions for not going back.<\/p>\n
\"It will be a problem for me. I am a Najibullah man,\" he says.
\nOver the past two years Daud has boarded four boats for
\nAustralia, all of which broke down or collapsed in high seas.<\/p>\n
\"The ships were no good. Water came in, the ships broke,\" he
\nsays.<\/p>\n
He has escaped from every prison into which he was
\nsubsequently thrown by Indonesian police.<\/p>\n
Muhammad Iqbal, a farmer from the western Afghan city of
\nHerat, does not believe the Taliban are finished. \"They've just
\nchanged their clothes,\" he says.<\/p>\n
Iqbal, his wife, and son Shoeb, 12, have been granted refugee
\nstatus and are waiting to be accepted by a third country.<\/p>\n
\"They have a nice future,\" says Muhammad Yusuf.<\/p>\n
While Yusuf and his friends still wait, they are prey for
\npeople-smugglers who prowl the hostels tempting those fed up with
\nwaiting months and years.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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