Article information
- Writer,King Eben Lumbanrau
- Role,BBC News Indonesia journalist
- April 19, 2023
This year’s Ramadan is no different from the previous dozens of Ramadans. Ahmadiyah followers in Wisma Transito, Mataram, Lombok Island, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) are still ‘displaced in their own hometowns’ due to differences in beliefs.
The government’s promises that it will provide them with decent housing, said the person responsible for the refugees, Syahidin, are just rhetoric. Since being displaced until now, he said, none of them had received housing from the government.
Some of the refugees were even born and raised in the Transito hall which was transformed with plywood into living spaces between families. One of them admitted that he did not know the meaning of privacy and home as a family room.
Setara Institute, an organization that defends religious freedom, asks the central and regional governments to create a solution for the victims by providing adequate housing and integrating refugees with the wider community.
On the other hand, the Head of the NTB Provincial Social Service, Ahsanul Khalik, admitted that the processing of certificates for refugees who own land outside the conflict area is in progress, so that houses will then be built by the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR).
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The Ministry of Religion said that the Center for Diversity Harmony (PKUB) had collaborated with the relevant ministries to build temporary houses that were suitable for habitation for the Ahmadiyah refugees.
Violence against the Ahmadiyah congregation in Lombok, at least recorded, has occurred since 1999, 2001 and 2006.
Now, there are 30 heads of families (KK), with a total of 115 people living at Wisma Transito who are waiting for the government’s helping hand to find a way to return home.
Asa refugee, “Home is heaven on earth”
A group of children were seen playing football in a field, in front of the Transito Dormitory, Majeluk, Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), on Tuesday afternoon (18/04).
Meanwhile, around the dormitory hall, which has been around for 16 years, some children are playing tag.
This complex is home to hundreds of Ahmadiyah followers who were expelled from their hometowns dozens of years ago.
Inside the hall, there are rooms measuring 2×3 meters divided by wooden plywood where a number of elderly people can be seen resting. In the past, barriers between families used cloth and even banners.
Next to the dormitory, several women were busy preparing food for breaking the fast in a public kitchen built from plywood and zinc.
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At the end of the dormitory, Munikah was standing guard in front of her stall selling basic necessities. The mother of five children comes from Ketapang Village, Lombok, and was expelled from her village in 2006 for embracing Ahmadiyah.
“Here it feels safe, Friday prayers, Eid prayers, worship is safe, no one disturbs you. “The local residents are fine,” said Munikah at Wisma Transito, Tuesday (18/04).
“I don’t want to [return to Ketapang] if there is no guarantee of security. If there is a guarantee, free like other people, maybe [want to]. “But if there aren’t any, you don’t have the courage, you’ll be traumatized,” he told journalist Abdul Latief Apriaman who reported for BBC News Indonesia.
In the midst of her busy schedule of closing shops to break the fast, Munikah said that this year’s Ramadan worship was different from before, even quieter than during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We don’t make Eid cakes, it’s quiet. During Corona yesterday, the economy was not like this. “Now Corona is over, the economy is declining,” he said, giving the name of one of his children who was born in the refugee camp, Sinta.
Munikah gave her child the name Sinta because in 2007, the first fast in the refugee camp, Indonesian President Gus Dur’s wife, Sinta Nuriyah Abdurrahman Wahid, visited them.
Apart from the sluggish economy, he added that refugees received 10kg of rice from the local government, much less than the previous year.
In the midst of her activities, Munikah shared her biggest hope in life, namely having her own house.
“I gave birth here, my children got married here, and I had grandchildren here. That’s all the place. If we had our own house it would be like heaven. “The house is heaven on earth, we want to live in peace and happiness,” he said.
However, he cannot afford to buy a house because their savings have been lost due to the previous violence. The only hope is the government.
“We don’t have any money anymore because it ran out on the street. We had a little money and sat there, for a while we were evicted, burned, and then it was finished. “Now I’m empty-handed, I don’t have the capital to buy land or a house,” she said, now that her husband no longer works.
Child born in refugee camp: “I feel inferior when I invite friends to play at home”
Currently, there are around 30 heads of families (KK) – consisting of 115 Ahmadiyah followers from various regions on the island of Lombok – who live in the Transito dormitory, including dozens of children who were born and grew up as teenagers there.
One of them is Maryam, 16 years old, daughter of Syahidin, the person in charge of the refugees at the guest house.
With permission and accompanied by Syahidin, BBC News Indonesia interviewed Maryam to tell about her life experience of being born in a refugee camp.
During Ramadan this year, Maryam said she rarely played outside the house. “In the morning I sometimes sleep, then recite the Koran. “I rarely want to play because I’m afraid I’ll get tired later,” he said with a laugh.
Between laughter, Maryam shared her sadness as a child who was born and raised in a refugee camp.
“I feel self-conscious when I invite my school friends to play at home because I know this is not our house, not our land. I was embarrassed,” he said.
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Maryam also admitted that she did not know the meaning of privacy and a house as a family room because throughout her life she had always lived with other families.
He harbored simple hopes. He wants his family to have their own house and land so he can invite his friends to play in his private room.
“I want to get out of here quickly, have my own house, my own land, my own room. Hopefully the government can realize that there are still displaced people who don’t have a home. “I want the government to care about us,” he said.
Deputy Chair of the Setara Institute, Bonar Tigor Naipospos, said that what Maryam expressed was one of the various negative impacts that arise as a result of the deprivation of the basic rights of citizens, especially children, namely to have a place to live.
“Children in the dormitory will certainly experience certain psychological conditions that give rise to feelings of discrimination. “Moreover, the conditions there are bad, the kitchen is outside, they are placed in a room partitioned by plywood and cardboard,” he said.
For this reason, Bonar said, children need to be integrated into wider society so that they feel like they are part of Indonesian citizens.
“Religion is not just tolerance, but also equality. They must be seen as citizens who have the same obligations and rights, not just based on their religion. “Does the government have the concern and political courage to provide a breakthrough that seems to always be missing,” he said.
‘Refugee in my own hometown’
The person in charge of Wisma Transito, Syahidin, said that until now there had been no follow-up on the government’s promises to relocate them.
On the other hand, Syahidin explained, the latest communication with the government was that refugees would be given assistance to build houses, but this was only intended for those who had land certificates outside the conflict areas.
In fact, said Syahidin, every refugee hopes to be given a house because many of them do not own land.
“Giving houses is just rhetoric, it has never been implemented until now. “From 2008 until now it was just plans,” he said.
Syahidin said that currently there are around 30 families living in refugee camps with a total of 115 people.
The number is decreasing, said Syahidin, but not because they receive housing assistance from the government. The refugees independently rented their houses in installments or migrated to other cities.
“Until now, not a single family has received their own house from the government. “In fact, there aren’t even those who own their own land, let alone those who don’t,” he said.
He also hopes that the future government can solve the problems they are facing, namely moving them from the Transito refugee camp.
“We are displaced in our own hometown, it’s very strange. “We are not given the freedom like other Indonesian citizens, like our fellow Lombok brothers, to practice our faith in our homes,” he said.
Seeing this, according to Bonar Tigor, the central and regional governments should have a way out for those who have been deprived of their basic rights as citizens for decades.
“The key is now in the hands of the government and there are many ways that can be done. “This has continued for decades because the government has no initiative, as if they don’t know what they want to do with this,” he said.
Central and provincial government efforts
Head of the NTB Provincial Social Service, Ahsanul Khalik, said that the central and regional governments are processing certificates for refugees who own land, so that houses will then be built by the PUPR Ministry.
“If they already have rights to the land they own, the PUPR Ministry will build them a house. We in the regions only help with administrative solutions. “The position of the land is not problematic and must be sterile from their social problems,” said Khalik.
“That is what is being strengthened, as for the others, we are actually just waiting for developments,” said Khalik.
Meanwhile, regarding the implementation of Ramadan this year, Khalik said that the Provincial Government continues to communicate with Ahmadiyah refugees, although he admitted that there is no special treatment for them.
Spokesperson for the Ministry of Religion, Anna Hasbie, said that since several years ago, PKUB has been collaborating with several related ministries to build temporary, habitable houses for Transito refugees.
“So there is a program, we can’t do it all straight away because if I’m not mistaken, at first it was a few hundred [people], but now it has decreased a lot. “This was carried out in stages by moving them to temporary housing,” he said.
“In principle, the Ministry of Religion considers that worship is a citizen’s right that must be protected, and we ensure that these citizens’ civil rights remain,” added Anna.
Apart from temporary housing assistance, he said, the Ministry of Religion also regularly provides social assistance to refugees through PKUB.
Examples of peaceful ways of resolving conflicts
Ahmadiyah followers are one of the most vulnerable minority groups in Indonesia and often experience discrimination and persecution, according to Setara Institute data.
Apart from Lombok, according to the spokesperson for the Indonesian Ahmadiyah Congregation (JAI) Yendra Budiana, the Parakansalak Ahmadiyah congregation in Sukabumi, Nyalindung in Garut, and Sintang in West Kalimantan are still under pressure in practicing their beliefs.
For the congregation at Wisma Transito, said Yendra, they can carry out their worship well, even though on the other hand they are in a sad condition because they don’t have a house yet.
“The current challenge is more about execution by the government to immediately build adequate houses for the refugees after almost 17 years of living in displacement in their own homeland,” he said.
Yendra said there was an example of conflict resolution when all parties opened themselves to establish tolerance between religious communities, namely in Kuningan, West Java.
He said that in 2010, the Manislor Ahmadiyah congregation in Kuningan was attacked by a group of people acting in the name of various anti-Ahmadiyah organizations.
After this incident, he continued, Ahmadiyah followers’ public service rights were also revoked, such as not being able to get an e-KTP, not having their marriage registered at the KUA and not being able to perform the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
After carrying out formal advocacy efforts and cultural approaches to religious leaders and the community in Kuningan, finally in 2016, the Ahmadiyah congregation received e-KTP, and other basic citizen rights.
“In fact, currently the Kuningan Regency Government is collaborating a lot with the Ahmadiyah Manislor congregation, such as the Blood Donor Alert Village, Eye Donor Alert Village and Disaster Alert Village to help local government programs and also the Kuningan community,” he said.
In fact, he said, the regent of Kuningan is now an advisor to the Ahmadiyah Manislor Eye Donation Community (KDMI), which achieved a MURI record as the largest village eye donor community in Indonesia.
“Many community figures who previously opposed the existence of the Ahmadiyah now often visit the Ahmadiyah community to support collaborative humanitarian social movements,” he said.
Journalist in Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara, Abdul Latief Apriaman, contributed to this report.
source https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/cgr1lkyyny0o
Categories: Ahmadis, Ahmadiyyat: True Islam, Asia, Indonesia
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