Meet Ashraf. This is not to his real name. And it is not your typical small, being an Iranian asylum-seeker who calls home to Jakarta, hoping to be given refugee status elsewhere.
How did you arrive in Indonesia?
I flew from Iran via another country, traveling on a false passport. I had just turned 35
Why have you left Iran?
I am a professional to earn a good salary. I was talking about a crime I had witnessed. I was told that I would be imprisoned. I had already seen people killed for not supporting the mullahs. The mullahs are religious Shiites who govern the country.
Iran is supposed to be an oil-rich country, but the infrastructure and economy are bad. The environment is destroyed and there is a lot of waste and corruption. You can be imprisoned or executed if you are promoting political change.
Is not the new president of Iran a moderate?
There have been 500 executions since Hassan Rouhani became president last August Many of those executed are activists. The newspapers will say that they were drug addicts or common criminals. People take their children to watch public executions. Police people fly in the streets. progressive teachers were removed from schools and universities to question the mullahs. A university professor used to demand sex from his students to pass them. After being caught, he received a promotion. This is the Iranian government.
youth suicide is high. Even the president's son commits suicide. Drug use and HIV are increasing. Many local women turn to prostitution - something you never saw it 15 years ago. Often it is a husband prostituting his wife make money.
Where would you live?
Canada or New Zealand. Or anywhere safer than Iran.
What about Australia?
Australia now has a bad reputation as a racist country that accepts the valid refugee, so I do not want to go. We hear a lot of stories recently about Australia mistreat asylum seekers. There were asylum seekers whose claims were invalid or they misbehaved, then Australia is now difficult for everyone.
Tell us through the refugee research process.
You arrive in Jakarta and register with the agency of the United Nations refugees, UNHCR. You get a residence permit in Indonesia for three or four months. When it expires, you extend it. All this time, you are waiting for an interview with the UNHCR to present your asylum case. Finally, you will be interviewed. Then you might have to wait several months before they tell you the result.
It may take two years of waiting. Each month, you spend about $ 400 on rent and food - or double that if you have a wife and children. In two years, you could spend $ 15,000 here, only to be told that your request was denied. If accepted, resettlement can still take many years.
So if you have no income and limited savings, of course you will soon pay $ 3,000 to a Smuggler people for a boat heading to Christmas Island or Darwin. Even if you then have to spend a few years in a detention center, you got food and accommodation, and you can learn English. Two years in an Australian detention center is better than two years of uncertainty in Indonesia.
How do you get asylum?
You have to prove that it is dangerous for you to go home. You can not just say, "My parents were killed," they will say. "It was the problem of your parents, you have no problem, so go back."
Some people lie about their sexuality to be accepted. They say they are gays or lesbians, so they fear being beaten or imprisoned. It works. And you can say that you have converted from Islam to Christianity. This also works. But beware, if you say you're an atheist! Do not insult the Prophet. Indonesian UNHCR officials do not like, even if they must be neutral.
You are not questioned by the West?
Previously, there were Westerners. Now investigators are Indonesians, using Afghanis as interpreters. Indonesian UNHCR staff do not have enough information on Iranian politics and security. There is a lot of discrimination against the Iranians. UNHCR officials encourage Afghanis. Although an Afghani grew up in Iran, he should say "the Taliban took my land and threatened to kill me," and he gets approval. UNHCR officials say Iran is a safe country. Well, if it is safe, then why not send a few afghanis there? Iran has a UNHCR office. Of course, it is not safe. Iranian police beat Afghanis without provocation.
Can you work in Indonesia?
Not legally. Some Iranians living around Bogor started small businesses in their homes, making bread and cheese to sell to other asylum seekers. They do not earn much money. Many desperate asylum seekers. They get these dangerous boats and drown. We all know that the police cooperate with the smugglers. Perhaps this is why things are taking so long.
If you want to stop smuggling, and make the process faster. Tell candidates or not in a few months; do not let them wait more than a year.
Have you been approached by smugglers?
All the time! In Bogor, they recognize you and offer you travel in Australia for as low as $ 1,000. Some just take the money and cheat you. Some offer a trip on a big boat all the way to New Zealand for $ 6,000 to $ 10,000 per person. There are people smuggler who offers excursions by plane to New Zealand via Sydney to Bali and $ 15,000 per person. This includes the ticket, a false passport and pay the Indonesian immigration so that you can leave the country without problems.
If Indonesian Immigration and police wanted to arrest the smugglers, they could stop them all in a week. We all know who they are! Sri Lankan smugglers people are good. They are honest. Indonesian smugglers can be dangerous. There is a guy who took the money and put people in small boats that were dangerous. When people complained they had problems.
How do you kill time in Jakarta?
I read. I have the internet to keep up with politics. And I watch DVDs.
Do you like Indonesia?
Yes, you have the freedom in Indonesia. Ladies must not cover in public. The police here are not as bad as the Iranian police. In Bogor, the police may ask to see your ID, and threaten to take you to jail, unless you pay the approximately Rp.300,000. So I do not get out much. I know an Iranian family living in Bogor; their house was robbed a day. When they reported to police the theft, they were locked up and had to pay $ 1,000 to be released. It's not as bad as being tortured or executed.
Most Arabs coming in Indonesia are sex tourists; go to nightclubs or buy a vacation woman. Iranians are not Arabs. Only our ruling mullahs are Arabs. We are Persians, who were conquered by the Arabs and forced to become Muslims. Then the British supported the Ayatollah Khomeini mullahs and when he overthrew the Shah of Iran in 1979, because BP was losing its oil contracts. After that Khomeini took us to war with Iraq so he could stay in power after breaking promises. It has been a mess since.
Is there a solution to the problems in Iran?
I do not know. People will take to the streets, as in Egypt. But there will be a lot of blood, as in Syria, unless everyone protested. But people are so afraid.
What options do you have if denied refugee status?
Single men can stay here and marry Indonesian women. Others date back to danger or death. When Rouhani became president, he announced that all Iranians living abroad could return home without any problems. A university professor who returned was given a speedy trial and sentenced to 10 years in prison. I do not plan to return.