Waiting on Sidewalks for Better Lives

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Two women refugees and an infant recline on mats on Sunday (7/7/2019) in a grassy area just off a sidewalk opposite the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Indonesia country office, headquartered at Ravindo Tower in Kebon Sirih, Central Jakarta. Refugees and asylum seekers from conflict countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia have relocated their makeshift tents and shelters to the area from their previous “campsite” near the Kalideres Immigration detention center in West Jakarta.

No one ever dreams of becoming a refugee, but many have been driven out of their homeland due to conflicts and violence, to become stranded in foreign lands.Jasmine, 2, was wailing on a sidewalk along Jl. Kebon Sirih in Jakarta on Tuesday (9/7/2019). She wanted to be with her father, who had gathered with other Afghan refugees across the road at the Menara Ravindo, where the country office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was headquartered, just 20 meters from where she sat with her mother Jamila, 30.

Jamila’s family of three was not alone on Jl. Kebon Sirih. Around 100 other refugees and their families were camped out nearby. They came from Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and several other countries.