Afghan refugees rally in Jakarta for resettlement

JAKARTA: Hundreds of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers living in Indonesia rallied in front of the United Nations refugee agency office in Jakarta on Monday to urge officials to speed up their resettlement.

They held large banners reading "Our families are in danger. Please act now" and "Resettle refugees and save lives" during the rally in front of the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Some of the protesters have been living in Indonesia for a decade.

Syifa Said, who arrived in the country in 2011, said she sometimes feels she has nothing left to live for.

"Sometimes I want to kill myself when I see my children. They don't have a future," she said.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the U.N. Refugee Convention, and the government does not allow asylum seekers to work or have access to schools and public hospitals.

In December 2020, there were almost 14,000 refugees from 50 countries registered in Indonesia, most of them Afghans.

Many asylum seekers fled to Indonesia as a jumping-off point to reach Australia by boat.

But since 2013, the Australian government has sent the vessels back to Indonesian waters.