Seven illegal Afghan immigrants stage hunger strike in Mataram
Seven illegal Afghan immigrants stage hunger strike in Mataram
Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
Seven illegal immigrants from Afghanistan are staging a hunger
strike that began on Wednesday in the West Nusa Tenggara capital
of Mataram, demanding that the UN grant them refugee status and
send them to a third country.
They spread a plaited mat in front of Nusantara Building, a
building that has accommodated them for the past three years.
Jafar, one of the Afghan immigrants, said that the immigrants
were very disappointed with the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) for neglecting them and they demanded the UN
body grant them refugee status immediately.
"Then, we want them to send us to a third state immediately.
We don't want to go back to Afghanistan," he said.
They warned that if the UNHCR still failed to respond to their
demand by Monday, the number of people joining the hunger strike
would increase. "We'd rather die here than die in Afghanistan,"
said Jafar.
Jafar said that the hunger strike was a last-ditch effort,
after living in uncertainty in Indonesia for years.
There are currently 67 illegal immigrants from Afghanistan
living in a refugee camp in Mataram. Thirty-five of them are men,
while the remaining 14 and 18 are women and children
respectively.
Previously, the number of the illegal immigrants was as high
as 200. But, after two rounds of interviews with the UNHCR, some
of the immigrants were conferred refugee status and they were
transported to countries that were willing to accept them.
Some of them chose to return to Afghanistan after the downfall
of fundamentalist Taliban regime, and 67 opted to remain in
Mataram until they got the refugee status and were sent to a
third country.
"We want to obtain asylum in New Zealand, Australia or Canada
or other countries that are willing to accept us," he said.
Jafar said that the illegal immigrants initially fled
Afghanistan for Australia to get political asylum. But, the
government of Australia rejected the asylum seekers when they
arrived in the country three years ago by boat.
The Australian government instead sent them back to Indonesia,
their last port of embarkation.
They were then brought to Rote island, and transported to
Kupang in East Nusa Tenggara province.
They were held by police personnel while their boats were
cruising in waters off West Nusa Tenggara, on their way to
Australia. They were then brought to Mataram.
In their refugee camp in Mataram, they are under the
supervision of the local police personnel and the International
Organization for Migration, an international non-governmental
organization (NGO).
The NGO has given them food, proper beds and medical
treatment.
They refused to disclose the reasons why they did not wish to
return to Afghanistan, even though the fundamentalist regime
there had collapsed some time ago.
The Jakarta Post tried to contact Stephane Jaquemet, the
country representative of UNHCR in Jakarta late on Thursday, for
confirmation, but he had already gone home.