8 Years Of Contacting PHP, Afghan Immigrants Hold A Demo In Kupang 'We Are Exhausted'

Refugees from Afghanistan demonstrate in front of the IOM office in Kupang, NTT today (Photo: ANTARA)

KUPANG - Dozens of refugees from Afghanistan in Kupang City held a demonstration in front of the Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Wednesday, April 28. They are disappointed because they are often given false hopes (PHP) about the time of moving to the reference country.

Immigrant expressions of disappointment were vented by writing on the poster. They trace their years of living in Kupang from 2013 to 2021 (8 years) with the words 'We are Exhausted' (We are tired) and 'We want a normal life'.

An immigrant named Kubra Hasani said the aim of the demonstration was only to meet representatives of IOM Kupang and ask questions about the clarity of time.

"We actually came just fine, but instead they locked themselves in the building and did not want to come out of the building to meet us," Kubra Hasani told Antara.

Kubra admitted that he had been in Kupang since 2013. However, until now it is not clear when they will be transferred to the reference country from IOM.

Immigrants are worried about the fate of their children, who until now have been unable to go to school due to constraints on their status as refugees.

In the past two years, he said, IOM officers had only met with refugees once. After that there was no more, so they demonstrated in the office.

Furthermore, Kubra, who demonstrated with his two children and her husband, said that the impact of the unclear status caused one of the refugees to feel stressed that he did not want to eat or drink.

"He only took neurological drugs, did not want to eat and drink. Currently, due to the uncertainty of IOM in a year there are approximately 4-5 immigrants in Indonesia who die due to stress," he said.

Meanwhile Ali Reza Qanbari said that actually at least the representatives of the refugees had to talk to IOM Kupang, but were not allowed to enter.

"We will come again tomorrow if there is no good intention from the IOM to come to us," he said. Until this news was released, IOM Kupang representatives could not be found at his office.