RESEARCH REPORT1

The Live of Hazara Refugee Community in Cisarua Bogor

Foreword
In the last couple of years, Indonesia has become a transit point for refugees and asylum
seekers, who mostly came from the Middle East, to reach Australia via UNHCR resettlement
channels or through the nearest islands by boat. In 2013, Australia toughened its edge policies.
These policies have all but blocked asylum seekers getting Australian territory, but in doing so it
has left Indonesia to play host to a rapidly increasing number of asylum seekers and refugees, as
we called them People of Concern (PoC), who now face uncertainty in the country and their
basic human rights, economic, social, and psychological requirements can remain unfulfilled.
There are more 14.000 PoCs spend an increasing amount of time necessitates inquiry into
how PoCs manage their lives in Indonesia. Due to Indonesia is not a signatory to the 1951
Refugee Convention, they do not formally be acquainted with refugees. Instead, the Indonesian
government has authorized the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to be
the body in charge for PoCs during their stay in Indonesia and has decreed that they may be
allowed to remain in Indonesia until they can be resettled in a third country. There are no ways
available for refugees to settle in Indonesia. In Indonesia, moreover, refugees are not permitted to
work, access to education, and affordable healthcare.
The half of existed numbers of refugees and asylum seekers population in Indonesia were
coming from Afghanistan; particularly these Afghan refugees are ethnic Hazaras. Hazaras are
Persian-speaking Shia Muslims who are both ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan,
making up around 9 percent of the total population (MacKenzie, 2015). The group has faced
persecution since there has been raised an extremist Sunni group namely Taliban targeted the
Shia Hazaras, it has led to a mass exodus of Hazaras from the country. However, even prior the
rise of Taliban, since 1890 Hazara had faced a long history of persecution by Pashtun, a majority
ethnic Sunni Muslim in Afghanistan (MacKenzie, 2015).
This evaluation report focuses on Hazara PoCs living in Cisarua, Bogor. The major data
collected during field observation making obvious that Hazara refugees living in and amongst
the Indonesian local settlement, they remain socially isolated from their hosts. They respond to
their prolonged situation by forming a strong ethnic community that is distinctly estranged from
that of their Indonesian counterparts. In particular, they have less meaningful contact with the
host population and terribly rare to adopt the cultural practices of their neighbors.
This research will instigate by giving an overview of existing literature on how refugees
manage their lives in urban contexts in Bogor area, West Java, Indonesia. By using the concepts
of bridging and bonding social capital, it will then describe how urban refugees in Indonesia
form relationships with one another as well as with the host community. Finally, an analysis of
structural factors in Indonesia will be provided as a means to understand this behavior. Since
most Hazara asylum seekers in Indonesia eventually gain refugee status with the UNHCR, the
1The data and any related information are presented as a regular report to UNHCR and other relevant partners in order to
identify, explore assistance possibility as well as to address protection concerns.
term refugee will be used to refer to both asylum seekers awaiting the outcome of their refugee
status determination, as well as those who have been deemed refugees by the UNHCR (UNHCR,
2016).
The existing researches on the topic of refugee in Indonesia
It is a very limited topic that discussed regarding refugees’ participation in local
communities where they can engage with the hosts and other migrants, particularly in cases of
Indonesia. The existing literature on refugees in Indonesia, in turn, has largely been focused on
international law and protection frameworks (Nicholas Feith 2016), (Amy & Carly 2013),
Australian - IndonesiaCooperation on Asylum Seekers; A case of 'incentivised policy transfer
(Missbach, 2015), (Stenger L, 2011), on the Focus Group Discussion regarding Asylum Seekers
and Refugees in Indonesia (Missbach 2016).
While, the research presented in this paper identifying how refugees in Indonesia shape
relationships with one another as well as with the host community, as it is important to consider
the themes that are needed to be explored. Another important primary research has been
conducted on the way refugee entangled in a dense settlement area in Indonesia, chiefly Antje
Missbach in her book Troubled Transit (2015) touches on refugees’ relationships with one
another and the host community in Puncak Bogor, drawing on the experience of a number of
months spent living there in 2012.
The situation, however, was noticeably different at the time the data for this text was
collected, when refugees in Indonesia were smaller number and the irregular movement of
migrants to Australia was still continuing. This research, in another hand, offered the first in-
depth main research on how refugees manage their lives in Indonesia since the recent Australian
border policy had altered in which it has ended the opportunities for most refugees to find a
sanctuary to Australia and left those in a more extended situation. It is also one of the few studies
to focus solely on a group of urban refugees in a single neighborhood in Indonesia, in this case,
Cisarua Bogor.
Social capital and its constraint
Social capital is a significant theory in the study of how refugees and asylum seekers
settle down in a new country. Social capital can be definite as ‘social networks and associated
norms of reciprocity and credibility’ (Putnam, 2007). In the context of urban refugees in
heterogeneous host communities, two forms of social capital are important: bonding social
capital, or social networks among refugees of the same ethnicity or country of origin; and
bridging social capital, or ties between refugees and the host community.
It argues that factors such as lack of access to education and employment, cultural and
linguistic differences, unfairness, and legal status in Indonesia prevent refugees’ ability to shape
meaningful relationships with the local inhabitants, and thereby to be influenced by the deeds
and cultural practices of their neighbors.
Hazara refugee in Cisarua Bogor
According to existed data from UNHCR there were 14,405 refugees and asylum seekers
in Indonesia (UNHCR 2016). Around four thousand live in immigration detention centers across
thirteen provinces in the whole archipelago (Kemenko Polhukam 2017; UNHCR 2016). While,
the number of PoCs has been accommodated by International Organization for Migration (IOM),
which operates in some 42 community housing facilities across Indonesia, mostly concentrates in
the cities like Makassar, Medan, and Jakarta (Kemenko Polhukam 2017). The rest number of
PoCs is permitted to live independently around Jakarta urban areas such as Ciputat, Petamburan,
Tebet, Kelapa Gading in North Jakarta and Bogor West Java. Most of the refugees who are living
in the community in Indonesia are rigorously banned to work and to have access to education
and healthcare.
Based on the exits data from UNHCR estimates that there are 3,112 refugees living in the
greater Bogor area in West Java. The majority of these are ethnic Hazaras from Afghanistan who
have settled in urban centers of Puncak, a hilly district near the city of Bogor. Most of them are
living in the townships of Cisarua and Cipayung, among Indonesians who are predominantly
Sundanese-speaking Sunni Muslims. Unlike other refugees in Indonesia, who may be supported
by international or local caretaker groups, refugees in Puncak live with relative independence,
relying on personal savings or transfer support from family members who live overseas.
Methodology
The data for this report collected in 2018 during participatory field assessment among
ethnic Hazara refugee community in Cisarua Bogor. The team assessors were four CRS’ staffs,
which consist of three field assessors, and I am a project officer who obligated to monitor and
evaluate the research process collected data in the field over four weeks in June – July in 2018 as
well as writing the final report based on the data collected from the assessors. These activities
involved participatory observation by continuously doing the home visit of target respondents.
Besides, the detailed data gained through unstructured method interview as it is completely
unstructured, no set order to any questions, no set wording to any questions, level of any
language may be adjusted, the interviewer may answer questions and make clarifications, the
interviewer may add or delete question between interviews (Berg, 2007)
The target respondents’ identities would not be mentioned in this report due to the
confidentiality issue and in the attempt to obligate UNHCR code of conduct (CoC). The
respondents are six Hazara men who were leasing two-bedroom house located exactly next to the
Indonesian landlord’s family home. These men were all come from Afghanistan with ages
ranging from 20 to 40. One man has a wife and two daughters in Afghanistan, yet the others were
young adults. These men had been selected as the respondents due to the fact that one of them
was an interpreter who speaks English very well and most importantly, he had joined as a
volunteer in one of CRS’ programs in Jakarta so that it was more convenient for the assessor
team to get contact of Hazara community in Bogor.
The assessor team put these men as a doorway to the refugee community in Cisarua
Bogor. By using snowball sampling as a methodology that prevalently used in the social research
to engage more participants and hard-to-reach populations, and was useful in getting to refugees
who can be well-hidden in a dense environment (Spradley, 1980). The assessor team and I were
also spent our time in refugee education centers, which offered opportunities to access
respondents for more various backgrounds – particularly, young women and families.
The main data presented in this research illustrates that in the effort to support one to
another, Hazara refugee communities unwaveringly construct and maintain their social bond and
culture among their own communities, they have little contact with the host population and
shows terribly little uptake of the language, behaviors, or cultural practices of their neighbors.
The data also reveals that structural issues are causal to this deed such as a lack of access to
education and employment, cultural and linguistic distinction, discrimination, and luminal legal
status
Inside Hazara refugee community: Robust social ties
It is repeatedly argued that the crucial motive of Hazara and others refugees attracted
dwelling in Cisarua Bogor that the area is a cheaper living fee and the weather is calmer than in
Jakarta ¬– they mostly said that the weather is similar to their old place in Afghanistan. Yet,
above all else, by the possibility living nearness with co-ethnics who have the same environment
and speak the same language. This allows them to maintain a sense of cultural identity, less
lonely and feels more supported, and to more conveniently guide the significant challenges of
life as refugees in Indonesia.
The emerge of strong bonding social capital of Hazara refugees in Bogor West Java is
indicated of collective initiatives that serve the community, the persistence of informal collective
community activities, and a general culture of support. Despite the barrier and their predicament
that most refugee communities have in Indonesia, there were four refugees led initiatives to
provide much-needed facilities and services for the refugee community in Puncak Bogor. The
first was the Cisarua Refugee Learning Center (CRLC), established by four Hazara men in
August 2014. The members of the refugee community itself serve as teachers and administrators.
Though the other members were voluntary to serve as cleaners, maintenances create some
activities and even the children’s parents are also involved in decision making within the school
during regular meetings.
It was an independent learning center that initiated and maintained by the refugee
community themselves since then three additional schools have emerged following a similar
model. Furthermore, the facilities provide important education for two hundred children, with
English classes for adults, community-based workshops, vocational skill-sharing courses, as well
as art and handiwork for women. They also provide as do-it-yourself community centers, it
provides sport programs such as gyms and in particular football actions with standard training
matches for either boys or girls. As it has inspired by CRLC, there was another group namely the
Refugee Women Support Group Indonesia established by a young Hazara woman. The group has
a focus on the community based regular meeting and handicraft such as and jewelry and soap
making. By adopting the model of CRLC, the group also runs meetings on women’s issues such
as sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), health and hygiene, reproductive health, and
family planning. It provides a space for women to gather and meet people amongst themselves,
to get a sense of togetherness as a community.
Whilst, those who are capable enough to conceive English either speaking or writing will
manage to mentor the group of adults or juveniles by regularly moving from one private rent
houses to another. Those whose fluently in English will significantly supportive for the
community by serving as interpreters to bridge communication with UNHCR, CRS and any
other partners in refugee programs in Indonesia, assisted the community members who do visits
in the hospital, negotiations with local landlords and so forth. All these activities are concrete
shreds of evidence on how the Hazara refugee community has been developing and
strengthening their social ties to serve and protect their community.
Outside hazara refugee community: Social detached with local dweller
Although the entire impressive levels of social capital within the Hazara refugee
community in Cisarua Bogor as it aforementioned, it is on the contrary, also indicated that the
low interaction quality with the local community. Based on this fieldwork assessment shows that
there are of structural aspects restrain the social attachment between the Hazara refugee
community and local dwellers, albeit they were all living in the same neighborhood. Firstly, the
refugees are incapable to gain access in education and Indonesian employment system during
their stay in Indonesia.
The majority of Hazara community had shown awfully little desire to studying
Indonesian language or participating in any local cultural practices. They used the Indonesian
language at the very basic level as it was just helped them to interact in the local markets, local
restaurants, or it used only to access public transportation like angkot, motorbike, and taxi.
Several Hazara community members were not even able to speak Indonesian at all, particularly
the older generation. The younger members were being able to speak Indonesia; nevertheless,
they were reluctantly studying the language as serious as they take English classes. They
preferred to use English to communicate with the strangers, even with Indonesians. Bearing in
mind that there is no way they could be settling in Indonesia, therefore, most refugees are more
triggered to learn English instead of Indonesian, as they feel it will be useful for them once when
they would be resettled to the third countries – mostly the developed countries such as Australia,
USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Germany.
Secondly, an aspect that prevents stimulating social ties between Hazara refugees and the
local community is a huge cultural distinction and having no linguistic similarity. It is, therefore,
the hazara community has terribly limited uptake of the cultural practices, social behaviors, and
language of the local surroundings in Cisarua Bogor. Social interaction was occurred with a very
limited number of local people and was only for business matters such as with the landlords,
shopkeepers in the local vendors, and local stakeholders who provided a temporary permit to
stay. There was nothing meaningful of social integration that has been conducted, the hazara
community is opted to socialize with one another within the community and maintain more their
own way of life that is keeping them more separated from the local community (Bemma (Adam
2018), 2018).
For instance, as it can be seen on most of Hazara men’s activities on day to day basis.
They would regularly active assemble for social gatherings in the learning center, doing some
sports activities such as gym, volleyball, and football, if there are any special moments, they
were together maintaining their own cultural practices such as perform traditional songs and
dance or cooked meals and drinking a cup of tea at home. Some members of the Hazara
community even have secretly been running a small business in Cisarua to sell Naan – a kind of
Afghani traditional bread – to serve their own community.
During four weeks in the fieldwork, the assessor team has never been viewed members of
Hazara community consuming local foods as it is reinforced by the respondents stated that
insofar as they stayed in Indonesia they had never tried local meals. Instead, they preferred Naan
or another Afghani traditional meal called Kabuli, or if they tried to be more economically, they
bought ingredients in the local market then made Naan by their own. Four of our respondents
said they simply could not eat rice like the way locals used to do for the breakfast, consequently,
they preferred bough Naan that they can easily gain in almost every of Hazara community
households in Cisarua.
Another aspect that is burdening social integration of Hazara with the local community is
about religious differences. Even though they all are shared belief in Islam, since most of the
Hazaras are Shiism, whilst the majority of Indonesian Muslims are practice Sunni Islam.
Refugees are afraid as they are potential to be the target of discrimination as they would easily
recognize by their appearances so that they are avoiding to attend local mosques or to emerge in
the public practicing their faith. Moreover, there have also been various cases of cruelty against
Shiite Muslims in Indonesia, from Muslim hardliner in the West Java area (Human Rights Watch,
2013).
There was, moreover, a report had declared that Bogor was regarded as one of the less
tolerant areas in Indonesia, with monitories ethnic threatened by the hard-line Islamic groups in
the area (Paat, 2015). All these aspects are affected negatively for refugee social attachment with
the local community. As it argued prior that since the beginning refugee bear in their mind
regarding their situation that Indonesia is only as a transit point before they make all the ways to
the third country, otherwise there is no way they could
Conclusion
It is certainly revealing that social capital is a vital point to take into account for
foreigners or in this case, is refugees, as a survival mechanism, which it helps them to be
integrated with the local dwellers and having a sense of belonging. Yet, these features also count
on structural aspects within the host nation. Refugees in Indonesia are incapable to take part in
education – unless for some little numbers of refugees’ children who had empowered by CRS to
be able to participate in public schools even though it still limited for elementary and secondary
school in Jakarta – and are definitely disallowed from working, and there are no ways they could
possibly make it through naturalizing in Indonesia.
Furthermore, other aspects like language and cultural distinction, as well as unfairness
threat, cause a hindrance for refugees in Indonesia. it is, therefore, the main cause that Hazara
community have been developing “an invisible wall” to maintain their own ways of lives while
also function to keep them separated from the local inhabitants in Cisarua Bogor. Refugees see
Indonesia as a “crack” between their original country and bringing it to the third country as the
places which going to promise them and their family a kind of tranquility and prosperity. It then
clarifies the reason why refugees are more motivated to study English than Bahasa Indonesia
regardless the fact that they have been staying in Indonesian neighborhoods, dealing with
Indonesian folks in daily business, or perhaps most of them will spend for the rest of their life in
Indonesia (Cochrane, 2018)

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