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I don’t get any money. The house costs 600,000 rupiah [roughly US$61], for
a bedroom with four people, one small room ... I don’t have a job. The
house my family sold [in Afghanistan, to finance his trip], the money from
that will last for one more month. After that, I’m not sure what I’ll do. 50
Some boys, vulnerable without assistance, fear arrest or re-arrest. Azim M., an
unaccompanied migrant boy from Afghanistan who had arrived in Indonesia two months
before his interview with Human Rights Watch, was effectively confined to a small house in
an area outside Jakarta that is popular with migrants. “I stay inside the house all day,” he
said. “I’m afraid [immigration officials] will find me. I do nothing all day—sit inside all
day.” Azim had received a token from UNHCR—a piece of paper the size of a business card
indicating a date several months ahead for him to register as an asylum seeker. He said he
had no other assistance from them and said he had not communicated with them since. 51
There is a nascent understanding within the region that unaccompanied children need
more care. UNHCR, in collaboration with The Bali Process, a regional intergovernmental
body on people smuggling and trafficking that Indonesia and Australia co-chair, initiated a
mapping project in September 2012 to understand issues faced by unaccompanied and
separated children in Southeast Asia. 52
No Legal Assistance
Unaccompanied migrant children in Indonesia receive no legal representation, either in
requesting asylum or in challenging detention. 53 Article 37(d) of the CRC mandates that
children deprived of their liberty should have prompt access to legal assistance, and the
Committee on the Rights of the Child has emphasized that this specifically applies to
unaccompanied migrant children in migration detention.
None of the unaccompanied migrant children we interviewed said they had legal
assistance. Sayed M., a 16-year-old unaccompanied Afghan boy detained at an IDC with
50 Human Rights Watch interview with Ali H., Cisarua, September 9, 2012.
51 Human Rights Watch interview with Azim M., Cisarua, September 9, 2012.
52 Regional Support Office to The Bali Process, “Information Sheet: Mapping and Analyzing the Protection Situation of
Unaccompanied and Separated Children in South East Asia,” 2012, on file with Human Rights Watch.
53 Febionesta, “Indonesian Law and Refugee Protection,” presented at ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Jakarta on 3-5 May
2011, on file with Human Rights Watch (no migrants, whether children or not, are granted the right to access to legal counsel).
23 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2013