Ulma Haryanto – To the thousands of would-be asylum seekers sheltering in Indonesia, the years of waiting for placement to a third country is a tortuous affair.

With only their words to go by and scant paperwork to back them up, most of these people are trying to find their way out of the suffering they experienced in home countries wracked by violence and oppression.

"We've been waiting for years, and it's been stressful because we can't do anything besides think about our families and friends that we've left behind," says Amir Mazraeh, 54.

An ethnic Arab, Amir (not his real name) fled from Iran with his family to escape what he says is the oppression and discriminatory treatment by the government there.

Amir's story is similar to that of hundreds of others who in recent years have flooded into Indonesia from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East as they seek to make their way, legally or otherwise, to Australia.

Indonesia has never ratified the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees or its derivative 1967 protocol, but its strategic geographic location has made it a desirable place of transit for those eyeing Australia, a country that is now a party to the refugee convention.

The numbers game

The actual number of those trying to make the crossing varies according to who's asked. The National Police said that in 2010, 2,188 asylum seekers entered the country, up from 1,798 in 2009. But the Directorate General of Immigration puts the 2010 figure at 1,400. About half came from Afghanistan.

The reason for the discrepancy is because the process to handle asylum seekers involves several institutions.

At the front line intercepting the immigrants are the immigration office, the maritime police and the military. Based on a 2001 tripartite agreement between the Indonesian and Australian governments and the International Organization for Migration, all such immigrants must be handed over to the IOM.

However, there are also those who go straight to the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta, and file a request to be recognized as an asylum seeker or refugee.

"These people are never reported to the government since the UNHCR is bound by the confidentiality of the people who come to them," said Lars Stenger, from the Jesuit Refugee Service. The JRS is one of the organizations outside the IOM that provides accommodation and other services for refugees and asylum seekers.

The immigration office says that as of December last year, there were 3,980 illegal immigrants in the country (about 4,000, according to the UNHCR), of whom 3,011 were classified as asylum seekers and 969 refugees. Less than half, or 1,284, are housed at the government's immigration detention centers in 13 cities across the country.

'Only temporary'

For most Jakartans heading out of town for the weekend, the large number of people of Middle Eastern origin in the hilly Puncak area of Cisarua, Bogor, is a familiar sight. The immigration office has designated Cisarua a temporary residential area for hundreds of people seeking refuge or asylum in a third country.

"Cisarua was chosen for its proximity to Jakarta and also because we have the Bogor Immigration Office overseeing the activities there," says Maryoto Sumadi, a spokesman for the immigration directorate.

Most of those placed in Cisarua already have refugee status or hold an "attestation letter" from the UNHCR. The latter is a document issued by the UN refugee body for those who have reported themselves to the commission or the IOM and are now awaiting the next step in their process.

As of this month, there are at least 567 immigrants living in 42 houses, apartments, villas and hotels in Cisarua, according to the Bogor Immigration Office. In June last year, that figure was just 326, with most of the immigrants coming from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.

The already high population density in Cisarua, with almost 110,000 residents concentrated in just 64 square kilometers, coupled with the influx of the immigrants has led to some friction with the locals.

"There's some jealousy because the immigrants receive a monthly stipend from the IOM and other services from NGOs," according to Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist.

The Mazraehs – Amir, his wife, their two children and two grandchildren – share a three-bedroom home with a monthly rent of Rp 1.8 million ($200). The IOM and UNHCR provide a combined monthly stipend of about Rp 500,000 per person.

For those like Amir and fellow Iranian Yusuf (not his real name) and their families, who have been in Puncak since 2010, the wait has been anything but pleasant.

"This is only a temporary place for us," says Aminah, Amir's eldest daughter. "What we want is to move immediately to Canada, New Zealand or Australia."

They find only the barest of comfort in things like instant coffee and tropical fruits, and they live in relative isolation from the locals.

Amir says he's reluctant to go outside, and only ventures out to play football with fellow immigrants or shop for groceries. "I've become more religious," he says with a smirk. "I have nothing to do except pray and read the Koran."

Even the cool weather in Cisarua, which brings lowland Jakartans to the area in droves during the weekend, is lost on those like Yusuf. "Some people like the cool weather here, but not me. I have to go back and forth to the local clinic," he says.

Amir makes it clear what he wants after living in limbo here for the past year and a half: "I just can't wait to leave."

'Limited resources'

But for those like him, winning approval from the UNHCR for placement in another country is a long shot, says the Jakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH Jakarta).

Alghifari Aqsha, a lawyer with the foundation, says the language barrier and lack of legal representation are among the reasons why the applications are often rejected by the UNHCR. "Legal aid for refugees is rare here, while foundations such as the YLBHI [Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation] and LBH Jakarta have limited resources," he says.

He adds that of the hundreds of cases that come to the LBH Jakarta's attention, only a handful can be taken up. "We can only take on the most convincing and important cases," he says.

Febi Yonesta, another lawyer with LBH Jakarta, says what compounds the problem is that there are few public lawyers who understand the existing statutes regarding refugees.

Finding translators to sit in during interviews at the UNHCR is also a problem. "Not many people speak fluent Arabic or Persian, and there's also the difficulty in converting dates from the Islamic to the Gregorian calendar," Febi says.

Febi and a number of private lawyers have taken up the cases of families including those of Amir and Yusuf, who were initially rejected for placement in a third country. Upon appeal, the UNHCR has now accepted their applications. Now the families are waiting for approval from their chosen placement countries.

'These numbers will increase'

With the tide of asylum seekers continuing to grow, the government is establishing a special office within the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs to deal with the issues of illegal immigration and people smuggling.

The ministry hosted a high-level meeting at the end of January, attended by officials from the IOM, UNHCR, the Foreign Ministry, the Transportation Ministry, the military, the police and intelligence agencies.

According to minutes of the meeting obtained by the Jakarta Globe, Insp. Gen. Budi Utomo, the coordinating ministry's deputy for national defense, said the number of asylum seekers would only increase after an Australian proposal to build a regional migrant processing and detention center in Malaysia fell through.

"Looking at the current political condition in the Middle East and South Asia, in addition to the Malaysian government's rejection to accommodate illegal immigrants, these numbers will increase," Budi said. "Indonesia is a transit area and even final destination for illegal immigrants who have organized themselves through international and national syndicates."

The new office, which will help in monitoring, synchronizing and coordinating policy applications to prevent people smuggling and handle asylum seekers, will have its own intelligence unit.

The government has acknowledged the difficulty of the task ahead. "People smuggling and illegal migrants are complex issues," says Maryoto, from the immigration directorate. "It's not just about immigration. It's also about human rights, international relations and national defense."