The myth of transit: the making of a life by asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia

ABSTRACT

An increasing number of migrants are living in a state of indefinite ‘transit’. In this paper, we report on interviews conducted in 2009 with 59 refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia and describe how these individuals make a life despite their circumstances. While all participants were deeply affected by their position of uncertainty and insecurity, most sought to transcend these conditions and pursue significant life projects such as getting married, having children, becoming part of the local community, and working towards a better future. The current conceptualisation of transit as life in limbo does not wholly account for such permanent, life-changing experiences. We analyse the reasons why the use of the term ‘transit’ persists in international policy settings despite its incongruities, arguing that its ongoing political valence overrides its conceptual flaws.

KEYWORDS:

• Transit
• asylum seeker
• refugee
• irregular migration
• Indonesia

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the individuals living in Indonesia who gave their time to participate in this study and the Indonesian field researchers Melati Adidamayanti, Donny Amir, Laura Ariestiyanti, Rika, Fitriyana, Peni Hanggarini, Muslaeni, Laily Nihayati, Aan Rukmana, and Yulyana. Special thanks to Brynna Rafferty-Brown and Amy Nethery for their assistance in managing and summarising the data from interviews and field notes. We appreciate the insightful comments offered by two anonymous reviewers.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Pseudonyms have been used.

2. There are an estimated 6.4 million refugees living in protracted situations (i.e. for more than five years) (UNHCR 2015). Meanwhile, an estimated 10–15% of the world's 214 million migrants are living in an irregular manner, a proportion of which would be in considered to be in transit (International Organization for Migration 2010).

3. There were 82 departures in 2008 and 60 in the period 1 January 2009 to 31 October 2009, 64 of which were to Australia (UNHCR Indonesia 2009b).

4. The number of new registrations increased significantly year by year from 385 new registrations in 2008 to a peak of 8332 new registrations in 2013; however, this trend reversed in 2014 with only 3223 new registrations as at 31 August 2014 (UNHCR Indonesia 2014).

5. Refugee status determination is declaratory not constitutive (Goodwin-Gill and McAdam 2007, 50).

6. In mid-2008, 77% were male (UNHCR Indonesia 2008). At end 2009, 89% were male (UNHCR Indonesia 2009a).

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the Australia Research Council [LP0776653] in partnership with Oxfam Australia and Jesuit Refugee Services Australia.