Bogor City, Indonesia - Way To Immigration Detention Center (IDC)

Bogor, a green and cold city. Cisarua and Puncak, the tump where thousands of asylum seekers and refugees from different countries are roving for years to get their chance to resettle to another country such as Australia, New land, America and Canada through the UNHCR process. It is a temporary home but for some others who took their dreams with them in the grave event permanent. Even though Puncak is a quit place but still life not easy for the refugees in this baleful hill. All living cost is on the refugees meanwhile the refugees in Indonesia are not allow to work to gain money and I can say living there is not possible except for those who have some families or friends somewhere to support them.

I have stayed in Puncak for almost four and half months. We were eight asylum seekers living in a house, which had two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom/toilet. I usually pastime in the room and nothing to do out there except once per week going to the market where we called it Ganda-bazar for daily needs and two time per week climbing the hill to reach a cow farm to buy fresh milk for making yogurt. In addition, sometime when I was too frustrated, I would ask one of friends to go visit some other asylum seekers to get news about the resettlement process. I remember one of the days when my friend Ziya and I went to visit some friends and we shared about process, having some hot-green-tea together while playing card and unaware, the sun was already gone and the voice of Muazen came out of masjid’s loudspeakers. I said to friends that we have to leave because crossing the jangle on the way home was quite scary. Ziya and I moved, on the way, a group of about six young local people were playing perhaps and when they saw Ziya and me, they started staring at us. I realized and felt that they may stop us and maybe… they will have a clash with us then I said to Ziya to not do or say anything but when we arrived, just say Salamu Alaikum. While we were getting closer, they were moving forward too and we reached them, we did as I said:” Salamu Alaikum’ by having a lightly smile on our lips and suddenly they answered us and stopped without saying or doing anything else. To be honest I was somewhat scared how if they attack on us but fortunately we stayed save by the magic of that phrase perhaps.

We were facing several difficulties although generally local people were kind and affable but unfortunately, day by day local people’s envisages were changing to negative ways and seemed they were not happy about existence of refugees in their area. Some local stared to do physical harassment like slapping the refugees from behind while passing by motorbikes or splitting on refugees. We were witness that several time some local tried housebreaking, stool money and phone by force from some house where refugees were living. Besides, live was getting tougher because of living costs as I could not have any income.

Finally, we thought how if we do self-report. For self-report, asylum seekers and refugees need to go to an Immigration Detention Center but I could not really decide about this because I still had the dark, tough and severe memories of Detention Center in Malaysia, the heavy trauma living in my head. I was always scared of police dress and anytime I see them, I was thinking that they are looking for me to put me in the cell. I was still in doubt what to do meanwhile I was one of those who talked about this idea since life was getting more difficult in that condition.

In the meantime, some asylum seekers who we were living together had the same idea like me as how if we do self-report, so we discussed about it to find better way. There was no IDC in Bogor, so we needed to go to another city. We planned to go to Bangil IDC but as we talk to some other asylum seekers, they said that Bangil IDC is not welcoming any asylum seeker or refugee anymore and mentioned that few days ago, a group of a was rejected and returned back by the immigration officers.

After one week, we found out that we could go to Tanjung Pinang IDC and going there needed to take plane but we, as asylum seekers were not allowed to use the airplane even boat to move to another city in Indonesia therefore we had to find a local person to help us to get the airplane.

Yusuf was and middle-aged short Indonesian man who had an Ankutan (public small car) who was taking us to Jakarta if we would go to the UNHCR office. He knew most of asylum seekers and refugees in Bogor and he was helping us in any case we were asking his help mostly about transportation and if it was possible for him. One of our friends who could speak Indonesian language (Bahasa) contacted him by telling him about our plan whether he could help or not. He said yes he could do what we wanted and he said that we should pay Rp200k per person for the expenses, we negotiated a lot with him about the price but he did not changed his mind. He was also advising us to choose Tanjung Pinang IDC because entering other IDCs were more difficult according to his information. He told us to choose the day when we are sure to move and ready so he could go to buy the tickets for us and he mentioned to be divided in two group of four person not to be too crowded so it may not cause problem for us in the airport.

We were nine asylum seekers who decided to go to Tanjung Pinang IDC for self-report so we divided in two group and our first group was four person including me. Yusuf with one of us went to the travel agency to book the tickets. The normal price of Jakarta-TPG ticket 800 k Indonesian Rupiah but for us they asked 950 k.

Our flight was for Monday 17the March 2014 at 3:30 pm. We ate our lunch before usual time together with some other friends who came to our room for saying goodbye and hided our money and other valuable things inside the backpack as we were told that if the police or the immigration staffs find money, phone and rings, they will take for themselves. We prepared ourselves for another risk another challenge as refugees lives are always in risk and full of challenges plus, phobia.

Yusuf picked us up by his own red Ankutan in front of our residence called “camp alley” at 11am and we took into the car. I had a red backpack, which was designed from with Canada’s flag. We moved forward to Jakarta airport, it was a cloudy day and the weather was somewhat hot since no wind could be felt and the traffic was terrible as usual, especially when we exited from Bogor and entered Jakarta. After almost three hours we arrived at the airport around 2 pm, he asked us to follow him until near the entrance gate of airport. There, another person waked close to us; he worn the airport staffs uniform gray and had a warm-blue hat on his heat. Yusuf introduced us to him, and he asked as to come after him. First we went to take our boarding pass and he asked us to pay 100 k there meanwhile there is no fee to get the boarding pass but because we were asylum seekers and somehow illegal so everyone asking money for doing anything and we could not complain either. We got our boarding pass and he guided us to the check point, he gave them a sign and they let us pass the checkpoint, then he took us in the waiting room and told us to do not move anywhere until the gate open so we could get board to the airplane. It was 2:40 pm, which means that we had 50 more minutes until the gate open so I asked him if there is a place to pray since I could not pray because we left our place before praying. He shown me the small masjid lower floor. Before he leaves, I asked his phone number too as if somehow we need to contact him but he refused to give me his number by saying that if any problem I could contact directly Yusuf as he may not trusted us perhaps and then he left.

After I used the toilet and finished praying, I returned to the waiting room. Rauf, one of friends in our group to go to IDC also wanted to pray so I did show him the way to masjid and then sat on the benches for the gate to be open. 3:30pm the gate opened and we passed the gate, boarded into the airplane, and took our seats. While the other passengers coming and taking their seats, a person with the airport uniform having a Transmitting in his hand entered into the airplane. He was checking the passengers seat by seat as if there is a problem. I thought he is looking for us; I scared a little, phobic and thinking how if he recognize us and cancel our tickets and return us to Bogor, but before he get close to us since our seats were at the end, he turned back and left. ahhh, I felt comfortable and said to myself: “thank God, this also passed and until now no problem” and prayed for safe flight and God forbid bad and sad accidents on our way and the airplane departed.

5:15 pm our airplane landed in Tanjung Pinang. We get off from the airplane and followed the other passengers as we were told to be normal and imperturbable. The plan was to get out the airport and ask a taxi to drop us in front of the immigration office. When we exit from the airport, there were many taxi and we sat in one of it and told him that we want to go to immigration office. He said “ok” and asked us to wait few minutes. It was quite hot, we waited about 5 minutes in the taxi but he did not move. We asked him to move he was just saying, “Sebentar-Sebentar” which means “wait”. Almost 20 minutes we waited for him inside the car but finally a tall man who had short mustache like Charli Chaplin, wearing a cream color shirt and a gray trouser came. He asked us first about our passport. We said that we do not have then he asked us to take off from the taxi. We told him that we wanted go to immigration office. He shown his card telling that he is secret agent/intelligent officer. We had no choice rather than doing what he says but we cursed to the taxi driver because he did not move and worse than that, he reported about us to police.

The secret agent man could speak English good enough. He took us to his silver Land Cruiser that was parked about 5oo meters far from the taxi station, which was in front of the airport’s gate. He asked us to set in the car and then he drove us into his office where no one else was except him and us. Firstly, he took our UNHCR registration papers and the remaining half of our boarding pass too. In very tough way shouted on us and said: “why you flight from one city to another city since you are not allowed to use airplane as a refugee?” We explained that we were not allowed to work and the process of resettlement is long so we did not have enough money for daily life and we hope we could have chance to get faster process inside the camp in the meantime we could have IOM supports too.

He seemed very rude person. He called some people and talking to them for about 10 minutes as if someone reporting or asking advice (But I could not understand what about he was talking to since I could not speak Indonesian language). Later than that, he ordered us to go behind the office and sit there. Then asked us to come to him one by one for full body checking/detection as he was looking for money and mobile perhaps. He checked us one by one and could not find much money or any nice and pricy phone but somehow each of us had some small amount of cash in our packets. Then told us to go backside and sit there.

While we were sitting behind, he was talking to someone by phone again. Later he came started shouting on us saying why we came to Tanjung Pinang. He was very upset because he could not find anything. While he was talking and shouting, I was holding the Nokia 100 and probably pressed some button of the phone’s keyboard. He suddenly came close to me, slapped in my face, took the phone from my hand, and hit it hardly to the ground and the phone broken in pieces shouting on me why I do not listen to him. Second time, I had my Tasbeh in my hand and he got angry to me saying why I hold the tasbeh and he slapped me again saying that he is Muslim too so when he is talking I should not hold the tasbeh. Moreover, few minutes later he slapped Sadiq too because while he was talking, Sadiq’s head was down and not looking at him. He seemed too angry and nervous. There was when I started cursing myself with the decision that I took for self-report to be hit in the very first step and was thinking and expecting more violence and insults by the immigration staffs or other police officers perhaps.

After almost two hours being there, he asked us to pay for the transportation so he could ask another officer to drop us to immigration office and we collected our all money and gave him. Later after that, a younger man came and asked us to put our backpacks in behind his Toyota car and sit inside. They talked to each other in Bahasa and then he came in the car and we moved forward to IDC.

30 minutes later we arrived in the immigration office, the staffs were good people, they asked us to open our backpacks for checking. They checked us physically first then our backpacks which took about 30 minutes and then asked us to take the stairs and we went upstairs. There was a room with a likely prison door. One of the officers opened the door and told us to enter. When the door opened, I saw many others sitting and laying inside; it was like a small Detention room. We entered and the people inside that room welcomed us and they were all Afghan asylum seekers like us who arrived there 10 to 20 days before and then, the door was locked back by the officer. The room was very dirty, smelly, hot and small for us because we became 18 person there but we had no choice rather than accepting it. Fortunately, it was for short time of 15 days up to two months until transfer to the camp (IDC) which could be better and the important was that being inside the IDC count for our resettlement process, meanwhile being in that small room, we were just wasting time in a very bad condition.

We all were waiting to be transferred soon inside the IDC and it was our hope for that time. It was possible if some other refugees from IDC could be released or transferred to the open camp, then we could have chance to go instead of them. We could often know about it through the family who was also under IDC but since the IDC was for single men, so he could not live inside there with his wife and their children. Therefore, they were living separately with less limitation so he could visit us. Anytime he was coming, he was bringing hot tea for us and telling us if there is space inside the IDC or how.

Finally 21th march 2014, which was first day of our new-year in the solar calendar. We transferred into the IDC and we were somewhat happy because our situation in that small dirty room was worse and wasting time. It took 5 days for me and 3 other who we came together from Bogor but for others 15 up to 20 days. It is weird to be happy for entering in Immigration Detention Center where I found myself in the prison.

I must go through that way because it was leading me to my destination and counting as part of the resettlement process. Nevertheless, when? We could not have the answer.

Immigration Detention Center, Tanjung Pinang City, Indonesia, 21 March 2014