Hundreds of refugees from a number of conflicted countries held demonstrations in Jakarta, Medan to Pekanbaru

Refugees stage a protest outside the UNHCR representative office in Indonesia in 2019 against Australia’s freeze on resettlement out of the country.

Refugees stage a protest outside the UNHCR representative office in Indonesia Source: AP

SBS Indonesian

View Podcast Series

Get the SBS Audio app

Other ways to listen

These refugees are experiencing very heavy mental pressure, because their desire to enter the destination country, especially Australia, for the past few years has not been successful.

One of the companions for the refugees is the social organization Solidarity Indonesia for Refugee (SIR). This organization fights for the rights of refugees, in particular by putting pressure on UNHCR. Indonesia itself has not ratified conventions related to refugees, so it is not burdened with a number of obligations.

Ali Yusuf, the founder of SIR will tell about how the refugees struggle, and how they evaluate the role of UNHCR in taking care of the refugees in Indonesia.

Click on the image above to listen to this feature.