On the 8th and 9th of February 2019, the Urban Refugees team from RDI conducted a follow up interview with several refugees in Bogor and Jakarta. A previous visit was conducted the week prior to connect with some of the refugees, and this follow up visit was conducted to gather in-depth data regarding the theme: “The meaning of “Places” for refugee’s identity”. The team consisted of Junior RDI researcher Rizkita Mardea Nurdiandra and RDI intern Muhammad Anugrah Saputra.
The team first visited the refugee community in Bogor and interviewed three youth refugees in the community. They told stories of their journey to reach Indonesia with 1 respondent having lived in Indonesia since 2013. The team was able to learn about their daily activities around the neighborhood, as well as places they visit and avoid. The respondents were also very welcoming to the team as they provided refreshments such as traditional milk tea from their home country. The following day the team visited a refugee housing in Jakarta, where the building was helped financed by a local NGO. The team was able to meet and interview two other refugees. Similar to the interviews in Bogor, they told stories of their experience in Indonesia and the neighborhood around them. The interview with the refugees in Jakarta was conducted mostly in Indonesian, as the refugees were comfortable to discuss in Bahasa Indonesia.
On the 11th- 12th of February 2019, the team paid a visit to SUAKA, Komunitas Selasih, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), and the UNHCR. SUAKA consists of pro bono lawyers who stand for refugee “human rights in Indonesia, therefore an interesting discussion on Indonesia regulations” gaps and opportunities to enhance livelihoods of refugees was raised during the visit. Komunitas Selasih consists of volunteers who have been providing generous day-to-day assistance for refugees stranded at the Kalideres. As for CRS — it is the main partner of UNHCR that deals with socio-economic issues of refugees. Finally, the meeting with a UNHCR representative reconfirmed our construction of thoughts built throughout the series of meetings with various stakeholders related to urban refugees.
In total the Urban Refugees team were able to interview 5 refugees with similar ethnic backgrounds living in different neighborhoods in Indonesia. The different urban setting in correlation with their answers brings forth an interesting discussion for the theme of this research.
