170 Afghan Refugees In Kalideres Feel Hopeless

JAKARTA – The success of the Taliban in occupying Kabul and a number of areas in Afghanistan only adds to the suffering of the Afghan people in Indonesia. It is known, since 2018, many Afghan refugees have stepped on Indonesia. They seek protection.

A total of 170 people from Afghanistan are in the evacuation post of the former Kodim building, Kalideres, West Jakarta. They have existed since 2018, when the country of Afghanistan was still in conflict under the threat of the Taliban.

Wahid Ali, one of the coordinators for Afghan refugees, said that he had been in Indonesia for the past 9 years. In fact, his hopes were dashed because there was no glimmer of hope he found.

Wahid said, there was no serious response from the government, especially Indonesia, to refugees from Afghanistan.

"There are no facilities. They are not facilitated by the (Indonesian) government. There is no concern for refugees (Afghanistan)," he said when contacted by VOI, Friday, August 20.

In addition to refugees from Afghanistan, there are also refugees from Iraq and Pakistan.

"There are 200 refugees here. From Afghanistan there are about 170 refugees, and others from Pakistan and Iraq," he said.