11/05/2025
A Decade of Uncertainty: See Us, Be Our Voice
We, the refugees living in Indonesia, write this letter from the depths of years of suffering, neglect, and uncertainty. For over ten years, we have been trapped in Indonesia without basic human rights such as education, work, freedom of movement, healthcare, or liberty. We have been deprived of the most fundamental human rights, with no horizon for the future.
On the occasion of the upcoming visit of the Honorable Prime Minister of Australia to Indonesia, on Wednesday, May 15, 2025, we call on all human rights organizations, the media, and governments to break their silence and be our voice.
See us:
Children who arrived in Indonesia at a young age and never went to school; now grown into illiterate, unskilled youth with no future.
Young people who came with hopes of rescue but lost their youth in depression and limbo.
Elderly people who came seeking safety but died silently and alone in exile.
Dozens who, under psychological pressure, took their own lives or remain deeply traumatized with no access to care.
Families who no longer know how to keep hope alive in their children.
Women living in fear, threats, and uncertainty, with no one to hear their voices.
We call on the Australian government to take responsibility, as many of us are direct victims of its immigration policies.
We know the past cannot be changed but the future can still be built. It is still possible to give people a second chance.
We urge the Australian government to abandon its harsh policies toward the suffering refugees in Indonesia and open a humane path to safety for us.
We also call on human rights organizations, UNHCR, and IOM to step out of the margins, stand with us, and play a more active role in solving the refugee crisis.
We have nothing left to lose except hope.
Be our hope. Be our voice.