15 May 2025
As Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visits Indonesia this week, the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) welcomes the opportunity for Australia to deepen regional cooperation and demonstrate leadership on refugee protection across the Asia-Pacific.
Australia is the leading resettlement country in the region and has a critical role to play in ensuring refugee protection is strengthened where refugees reside so that they are not forced to risk their lives on dangerous journeys in search of safety.
Indonesia currently hosts more than 13,000 refugees, many of whom have been living without access to a right to reside, education, healthcare, or employment opportunities for years. They are denied the basic rights that allow a person to live safely.
Sidiqa Faqihi is one of RCOA’s refugee ambassadors and spent ten years in limbo in Indonesia, after fleeing Afghanistan.
“Life in Indonesia as an asylum seeker was a constant struggle for survival and a desperate fight to hold on to hope. It felt like existing without truly living. We are treated as invisible, without a national identity or the basic human rights that others take for granted. There is no right to education, no access to public healthcare, no right to work, and no chance for local integration. With limited settlement opportunities each year, many of us are left in a perpetual state of limbo, trapped in a cycle that can last for decades, often more than 20 years without a clear path to safety or a future.”
As a result of the United States suspending its Refugee Admissions Program, there are significantly reduced resettlement opportunities. This means that Australia must renew its leadership in the region to ensure refugees in Indonesia are safe and have access to basic needs.
We urge the Prime Minister to champion a strategy that improves conditions for refugees in host countries. This visit is a chance for Australia to reaffirm its commitment to shared regional responsibility and to practical solutions that uphold the dignity of those seeking safety.
