Afghans free to go home, others dream of Australia
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
While some Afghan migrants stranded here are lining up for flights that will carry them home, others prefer to make a complete break with the past.
The new Afghan interim government has guaranteed refugees safety and even a better life in order to bring them back to their country.
But the fact that peace has never fully returned to Afghanistan despite several changes in administration over the past two decades has raised doubts in the minds of some migrants.
The 18-year-old Iqbal Ali escaped from jail in his home district of Jaghori, Ghazni province, after serving three months of his sentence. He fled Afghanistan, leaving behind his family, for Australia and a bit of luck.
He was among hundreds of non-documented Afghans who were stranded here en route to the land of dreams.
"I don't want to go back ... I don't trust the new government. If they cannot provide security for the minister who got shot at the airport, who can guarantee my safety?" he told the Post during an interview at a hostel in Central Jakarta where he has lived for the last six months.
He was referring to Afghan aviation minister Abdul Rahman, whose murder in February reflected the rivalry among the factions in the new government.
"I love Indonesia. I'm safe here. I miss my parents and siblings, (but) in Afghanistan there is fighting and arbitrary prosecution every day. That's why we fled our country," Ali said.
As of Friday, some 90 Afghans had joined the voluntary repatriation program jointly organized by the International Organization of Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The program followed an agreement between the Indonesian and Afghan authorities and the two international organizations, which was signed earlier this month.
Since the program began early this month, some 200 of the 594 illegal Afghan migrants sheltered in several regions in Indonesia had agreed to return home.
But not all of the volunteers have been registered by the Afghan Embassy.
"It takes time to register all those who are willing to return home because the Afghan Embassy has to issue travel documents for them," IOM's operations and public information assistant in Indonesia, Arista Idris, told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Iqbal, who is waiting for UNHCR to grant him refugee status, has his own opinion as to why some of the refugees prefer to return to Afghanistan.
"Staying in a shelter is not a life. They choose to die in the land where they were born rather than live life as illegal migrants. They are disappointed with UNHCR, which cannot help them live somewhere else better than Afghanistan."
IOM has recorded more than 1,000 illegal migrants now staying in Indonesia, including Iraqis, Iranians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Vietnamese.
The migrants initially traveled to Indonesia hoping to use it as a stopping off point for Australia. But the recent crack down on human smugglers, which has seen six major smugglers recently arrested in Indonesia, Thailand and Australia, has drastically reduced the number of migrants making it into Australia.
Many of the illegal migrants here are looking forward to hearing good news from UNHCR on their applications for refugee status, while the rest are waiting for repatriation.
"IOM never influences (the migrants) in making the decision (whether to stay or return to their countries). But one thing is for sure: IOM would never facilitate a repatriation if we were not sure that the migrants' country of origin was safe for them," Arista said.
The IOM has also begun another program that assures that qualified Afghans get a job upon their return home, either with the government or an international organization.