Lombok Statement
read at GPO, Melbourne, 28 October 2005

We correspond with a bright young man trapped in Lombok, Indonesia we will call Ali (not his real name).

When I emailed Ali and asked him to write a statement for the National day of protest in support of the Lombok asylum seekers he asked me to convey the Lombok asylum seekers deepest gratitude from the bottom of their hearts.

We thank all the people who are supporting us very, very much.

Over the years that we have been corresponding with Ali we have learned to love and respect him. He escaped from Afghanistan after his father was murdered and he was almost fatally stabbed. After he was towed back from Ashmore Reef, Ali has been stateless and without basic human rights on Lombok for more than 4 years.

This is Ali's story. He starts with a quote from Rudd Lubbers of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)

A Place to Call Home

"All of us need a place to call home - a place where we belong. But for the millions of refugees and displaced people around the world today, home is little more than a distant dream."
Ruud Lubbers UNHCR

My father worked for the communist party. When the Communist Government fell Mujahedin came in the city. On the first day a Toyota came in front of my house, stopped and armed men came in my house and hit my father with their guns in a way that he was not able to talk, all of his face was full of blood. They shackled his hands behind his back then they loot our house and throw my father in the Toyota. After two days we could find my father's body in the desert. After that we could not live peacefully. Every day people were insulting and accusing us. They were calling us the children of the pagan. I was threatened with death and beaten several times and stabbed with a knife below my stomach with the purpose of killing me.

This brought about and compelled me to leave my homeland and family and seek for shelter. I don't have any other way.

I cannot return home because I will face death persecution. I am Hazara Shiite and live in Helmand where Pashtun dominate. The party and person who persecute me are the Pashtun and Sunni sect who are strong and rule the province.

How did we go to Australia?

We Afghan Migrants are living in Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia around five years. During this time we had traveled two to three times to Australia but could not get there because the boats were crowded, and break down. This nearly cause death for passengers but accidentally we remained alive. Each time we come back to Indonesia with psychological disappointment and physical illness.

Most of us have experienced from one to three times such deadly sea trips to reach to the land of people who claim themselves the main human rights supporters in the world (we mean Australia).

On the last trip on 3rd October 2001, we were 240 migrants departed for the purpose of seeking asylum in Australia.

On the 9 days trip we lost one baby because of hot weather and having no food and water. And another baby was born in Australian water near Ashmore Reef.

Due to extreme happiness the tears were coming from the eyes of all passengers because all of us believed that we finally reached Australia alive. It was 2 O'clock in the morning on 12th October 2001. The navy forces stopped us at nine O'clock the same day. We thought that it was the end of all calamities of our trip and we forgot all the past problems which we had during many times travel on the ocean.

We believed that now it is the time to explain for the world the fright and terrorism of Taliban Malitia and sorrowful condition of the oppression of the Afghan nation. Especially for most of the passengers who are from Hazara tribe who had been the victims of racial and religious discrimination and fanatic policies of all governments in Afghanistan.

Unfortunately it was the beginning of another unexpected tragedy in our life. This is a sad story of human suffering.

The navy forces of Australia kept us in the small and smelly boat on the ocean beside Ashmore Reef under the unbearable hot sunshine for eight days. The passengers had infected skin disease due to much perspiration and dirt in the boat.

After 8 days the navy people came in our boat and said "we are taking you to the refugee camp"(but they deceived us) They separated the families from singles and transferred families to their navy ship.

Then asked all the singles to come down inside the boat. We requested them it is not possible for 160 persons to come together in a place, which is enough only for 40 persons. They said only for five minutes we want to tell some thing to you. So all the 160 passengers came down inside the boat, some sat on each other, some were standing.

They kept us down by force for two days where the people cannot breathe, eat or sleep because there was not enough oxygen and a there was much smoke of engine.

Many people fainted. Each who fainted was taken to upside of the boat like a dead body then navy people poured water on his face or injected him to become conscious and after he was conscious threw him down in the same tight and smelly place.

After two days in early morning the officer shouted: "you are returned back and now you are in Indonesian water."

This sentence was like thunder which hit the passengers' mind. We shocked and asked them "if you did not accept us why did you not submit us to UN and why have you deceived us and why… and why ………!!?? But there was no ear to hear! The navy people instead of logical reason replied to us with electrical sticks, which they had with them.

Then they take the families back to our small boat by force. Because no one was ready to come out of the navy ship the navy people were bringing the children in our boat and beating the men, and women so badly if they did not want to come out of navy ship.

By observing this scene some of the navy people were weeping, one even hit his head to the wall of the boat. Then they broke the engine of the boat, took the oil and generator so we cannot go back to Australia and went by speed boat to the navy ship which had brought the families, and sailed away.

We remained on the ocean with broken engine and no oil and generator to evacuate the water from our boat.

If after some hours the fishermen of Indonesia did not come to save us, 240 passengers would likely be drowning in the ocean.

After living 40 days at Kupang Island in dirty and cramped barrack, with not sufficient water to take a bath or wash our faces, we were taken to an Island named Lombok. It has been four years we are staying in the Lombok Afghan Refugee Camp.

It has been four years that we live in the world of ambiguity. We cannot go back to our country because of the problems of racial, political and religious discrimination, which we had and still we have.
The refugee assessment process by the UNHCR in Indonesia was full of errors and unfairness.

Afghanistan's condition is dark. No one can predict and be hopeful of its future. The UN knows it is too dangerous for us to go back and has given us Temporary Protection in Indonesia. When we ask for how much longer must we stay, they respond that they are waiting for change in unstable condition of Afghanistan then the destiny of every one would be clear.

We Afghani asylum seekers, have already experienced that in 27 years of civil war and massacres the condition in Afghanistan became worse and worse. Now according to UN we must waste our life here and wait many years again to know what will happen in Afghanistan. In this case we will suffer from life imprisonment unendingly.

Our present condition in Indonesia

In the camp in the day, some spend time with their lessons of English Language and Computer programs, and some has no activity.

I am teaching two English classes six days a week. I have the same timetable for every day.

I am suffering in such suffocating situation and being Stateless with unknown future, that these issues are hurting me very much.

We had attempted to find a shelter to save our life and make a safe life and better future especially for our children, but here in Lombok we Afghan Refugees are suffering from an intolerable and unimaginable condition. We lost our hope, our family, friends, relatives and our own life.

We Afghan refugees living in Lombok, kindly request from all the wise men of the world to comprehend our condition and to help us.

We request Australian Immigration to be responsible for the Lombok refugees who were returned from Australian water, and to treat us in the same way as the Nauru refugees, that have been interviewed by Australian Immigration.

We are Australia's responsibility. We came to Australia and asked for asylum and Australia knows this because it pays International Organisation for Migration to provide us with food and shelter.

Many asylum seekers in Lombok are on the threshold of erosion physically and psychologically because of disappointments and endless obscurity in our life. We do not know how long we will remain here and this causes tension in every individual's mind.

I hope that humanitarian communities pay attention to our problems and do not let us to be kept in isolation and be forgotten.

It is a brief story about our terrible travel to Australia for seeking asylum in your country. We wish that no other humans have to face this kind of catastrophe.

Thank you for your kindness in listening to our story.

Best regards,
Ali
Afghan asylum seeker
Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia