Asylum Seekers’ and Refugees’ Decision-Making in Transit in Indonesia

Abstract

Asylum seekers and refugees currently living in Indonesia tend to see Indonesia as a transit rather than a destination country, despite the fact that their stays are increasing in length. Based on contact with Muhamad (not his real name), a young refugee from Iran currently residing in Indonesia whose adjustment and development I observed over four years, I illustrate the changing priorities in his decision-making, the constant flux of circumstances and context, and the extreme complexity of primary and secondary factors that come into play in planning for the future. Combining a macro perspective with a case study, in which I present excerpts from several life-story interviews, helps to exemplify these generic migratory challenges and distil a range of relevant parameters that influence the decision-making of asylum seekers and refugees in transit. A (self-)critical reflection on ethical and methodological challenges underpins my analysis and argument, not least because politicians and policymakers are increasingly interested in influencing migratory decision-making processes to gain political advantage. Of particular interest in my analysis is the role of Australia’s deterrence policies in asylum seekers’ decision-making. Despite the ethical challenges associated with studying migratory decision-making—as public knowledge of migration strategies can also suppress aspirations of mobility—I argue for more in-depth and longitudinal research. At the very least, this is because more intensive, yet considerate studies of decision-making will help us to take seriously the migratory aspirations of people with limited choices.

Exploring the intentional behaviour of refugees in participating in micro-enterprise support programmes (MESP): is theory of planned behaviour (TPB) still relevant?

“…Nevertheless, it happens that in many cases, refugees move under many restrictions of time and limited financial resources. As such, they lose the luxury of choosing the destination (Missbach, 2019). In addition to the above-mentioned factors, the psychological well-being and mental health of refugees make decision-making more complicated when taking into account the severe mental and emotional consequences of displacement on those populations (Betawi, 2019; Ammar and Nohra, 2014).…”

“…It is worth noting that, the discussion on decision-making in the literature does not cover only refugees but also asylum seekers (Brown, 2016), returnees (Sydney, 2019) and refugees in transit (Missbach, 2019). For instance, Missbach (2019) in his study on the Asylum Seekers’ and Refugees’ Decision-Making in Transit in Indonesia points out that, decision-making for the refugees and asylum seekers are never straight forward processes, but rather very complex. Similarly, Sydney (2019) surveyed 393 refugees and returnees from countries of Iraq, Colombia and Myanmar to explore the factors that derive their decision to return or not to their country of origin.…”

Los flujos extraregionales en tránsito por Centroamérica: una revisión de literatura y miradas futuras para comprender un complejo fenómeno migratorio

“…Por otro lado, paralelo a la diversidad conceptual que engloba el término de migración en tránsito, así como sus falencias metodológicas, inconsistencias y dificultades para identificar a este fenómeno como una unidad de análisis clara (Collyer et al, 2012;Düvell, 2006), otra subdimensión de la misma que surge de la revisión de literatura especializada, hace referencia al fenómeno de las poblaciones migrantes varadas o incapaces de seguir su trayectoria en países en tránsito. Dentro de esta subdimensión, se puede identificar también un amplio abanico de temas, entre estos, las dificultades que enfrentan migrantes en tránsito varados cuando los países que pertenecen a un mismo bloque de integración regional (Unión Europea en este caso) tienen sistemas o modelos de recepción diferentes (Brekke, Brochmann, 2014); las condiciones de solicitantes de refugio y asilo que quedan varados en países que no cuentan con legislación apropiada (Missbach, 2019;Missbach, 2017); o bien, flujos mixtos varados por años en países en tránsito (Zijlstra, 2014).…”

Introducing a multi-criteria evaluation method using Pythagorean fuzzy sets

“…But it does not refoule refugees and allows refugees to live in the community if they are registered with the UNHCR and comply with regulations and laws. There are very few NGOs working with refugees in Indonesia, almost no financial support is available and unregistered work is strictly prohibited and effectively policed (Missbach, 2015). During six years of fieldwork in Indonesia, involving interviews, ethnographic work, living in refugee households, participating in daily life, and maintaining regular contact between visits, I have discerned three types of refugee experience in West Java.…”