Faisal Rahman, a Protection Associate at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Indonesia, stated that although Aceh has long been receiving refugees from abroad, it has only been a temporary shelter. Those seeking refuge in Aceh are accommodated and not allowed to go elsewhere.
Due to this conflict, the refugees only stay in temporary shelters until they find the next solution. They are moved to shelters in other cities. Therefore, handling refugees in Aceh so far is only of an emergency nature.
“There has never been a refugee who stayed in Aceh permanently. Also, no refugees blend in with the Acehnese community,” he said on Wednesday (Mar. 27) during a webinar on the Complexity of Handling Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Indonesia: Lessons from Aceh and Bogor.
“They stay for at most one year, and I have seen that as long as there is movement from outside, thousands of refugees, including Rohingyas, will continue to land and seek refuge in Aceh.”
Aceh has long been known as a transit area for refugees. Refugees arrived in Sabang as early as 2009, followed by waves in subsequent years. The highest number of refugees was recorded in 2015; in 2023, the number reached almost the same level.
In 2015, the number of refugees in Aceh reached nearly 1,700, and this received significant attention from many institutions. The Aceh Government responded very well at that time. Referring to various stories, the government accepted them at that time.
“Unfortunately, the response is very different now, which demands the birth of regulations to oversee the handling of these refugee cases,” he said.
Rahman explained that large waves of refugees arrived in Aceh in 2015, followed by 2016, 2017, 2018, and now. In 2023, there was another large influx, with an additional arrival in West Aceh, reaching around 2,000.
The difference in 2023 is that these refugees are starting to face massive rejections. This phenomenon is interesting to explore what drives these rejections and so on.
“What are the causes and so on? The high rejection rates make it difficult for the government to determine placement points when talking about refugees in Indonesia who are currently being handled by around 12 thousand, including those in Aceh,” he said.
According to Rahman, this rejection phenomenon doesn’t match what happens in the field. He believes that the Acehnese people are generally accepting.
He acknowledged that there are indeed groups that express rejection. However, if we take a 100-percent sample, only 20 percent reject and the other 80 percent of the community have no issues.
“But unfortunately, the 80 percent that accepts them doesn’t speak out, which is the problem. While the 20 percent continues to voice their rejection, various reports have raised concerns and concluded that Aceh rejects refugees,” he explained.
He also explained that most of the refugees in Aceh are Rohingya seeking a haven. These Rohingya refugees will continue to move to find a safe place and accept them if they feel unsafe.
Senior Research Fellow at Resilience Development Initiative, Dr. Akino Midhany Tahir, acknowledged the change in the local government’s response to waves of refugees coming to Indonesia. There is a difference in response from the Aceh Government’s experience in dealing with refugees then and now.
He mentioned how the local government at that time wanted to help but did not have regulations from the central government regarding refugee handling, which prevented them from making immediate decisions.
He likened it to a chick losing its mother, where, on one side, they are required to make decisions. Still, on the other side, they are hesitant due to bureaucracy or rules that the local government must follow.
“One thing I remember very well is that the response at that time was when we met with the Aceh Regional Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), and one of the coordinators expressed a strong desire to help but admitted to not having references. They didn’t have references regarding regulations or previous experience in handling refugees,” Dr. Tahir said.
This situation has led to the handling of refugees in Indonesia, such as in Aceh, remaining primarily an emergency response. They respond, but after responding, there is a pause in activities, and then the following year, they respond again as more refugees arrive.
“It’s a momentary and very short-term response. This is also very normal in responding to disasters, where many are interested in helping. Once the recovery phase begins, the enthusiasm starts to wane. The focus is no longer on long-term handling, leading to some aspects being overlooked in long-term refugee handling activities. Therefore, refugee handling in Indonesia is mostly an emergency response,” he explained.
Dr. Tahir noted differences in handling refugees in Aceh compared to other areas in Indonesia. Most of the refugees in Aceh are Rohingya, while in different regions of Indonesia, some come from Afghanistan, Iraq, and other countries.
“Their arrival mode in Indonesia is different, their transit purposes in Indonesia are also different, and the places they aim for are also different. There are already many differences in patterns,” he elaborated.
Based on his research in Indonesia, Dr. Tahir mentioned two types of refugees besides Rohingya refugees: those supported by international institutions and those living within Indonesian communities. There is a dynamic in how these two groups go about their daily lives in refugee camps.
He described how they live when they are still assisted and how they live when they are required to live without assistance. This timeline differentiates them, as most refugees initially rely on aid from international institutions. After a certain period, they must strive to live independently.
“I’m not trying to categorize, but this research is useful for understanding these two groups’ different dynamics. It teaches us how to view refugees from an urban perspective,” Dr. Tahir said.
“Because from a political standpoint, there are already other groups conducting studies. But refugees are urban residents, too; they have rights to the city and rights to services regardless of legal status.”
The highest-level policy or regulation for handling refugees from foreign countries is the Presidential Regulation of Indonesia Number 125 of 2016. However, alternative regulations still allow refugees to access public schools, such as Circulars from the Ministry of Education. Finally, there are Circulars related to skills improvement or training for refugees to engage in activities in Indonesia.
For Dr. Tahir, this 2016 Presidential Regulation is implementable for regional governments, including in cases in Aceh. He finds this regulation highly relevant to handling refugees in Aceh, especially regarding sea rescues and responses after they are brought ashore, with various actions that authorities can take.
However, for the context of refugees (outside Aceh), this 2016 Presidential Regulation is considered far from meeting the needs for refugee handling. Therefore, there is still much work to be done regarding regulations or policies related to refugee handling.
“What is needed is a larger umbrella that can adopt various forms of refugees, forms of rescue, and forms of long-term handling responses compared to specific regulations for certain refugees,” he added.
The webinar is part of the Sustainable Development Goals Seminar Series #99, organized by the Department of Development Geography, Faculty of Geography, UGM, in collaboration with UNHCR, The UN Refugee Agency, and the Resilience Development Initiative.
Author: Agung Nugroho
Photo: Distori.id