The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tuesday, February 18, 2003
Indonesian refugees at a crossroads
After fleeing their country, they must register here or risk deportation.
By Thomas Ginsberg, Inquirer Staff Writer
Each morning for years, Theny Landena never left home before checking the radio. No
news of Muslim protests, he recalls, meant it probably was safe to go to work at his
church.
"Muslim extremists threatened us. They said... we had no right to be there in
Indonesia," says Landena, an Indonesian Christian pastor now ministering in South
Philadelphia. "My life was at risk. But I'm a preacher; we're all targets."
Now, Landena and thousands of other Indonesian immigrants are finding that Islamist
extremism, perhaps ironically, has become a reason for scrutinizing and possibly
deporting them from the United States.
In a post-Sept. 11 measure, Indonesian Christians are among the few non-Muslims
who must submit to "special registration," under which certain foreign males report for
fingerprinting, photographing and questioning - or face possible deportation. Others
include Eritreans and North Koreans, the latter said to number very few.
While saying they support tighter security, Indonesian Christians with expired visas
face a nerve-racking choice: Should they go the Immigration and Naturalization
Service and risk getting detained, go home and risk being attacked, or do nothing and
hope for the best?
"People are trying to decide," said Landena, 39, who came last August to minister to
a surging community of Indonesian evangelical Christians in South Philadelphia. "If
they stay, they are illegal. But if they go back, they could get hurt."
Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population and at least one radical
Muslim group, was the site of a bombing Oct. 12 at a Bali resort that killed about 190
people, many Westerners. The attack has been blamed on Indonesia-based Islamic
radicals who U.S. officials allege have ties to al-Qaeda.
The multiethnic country also has seen sporadic violence between Christians and
Muslims, including church bombings and harassment, human-rights groups say.
Twenty-five countries are now listed for registration, which applies to men older than
16 who are not permanent residents, diplomats or asylum applicants. The next
registration period runs from next Monday to April 25 for men from Indonesia,
Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait. (March 21 will be the deadline for an
estimated 14,000 men from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.)
Estimating their community at 5,000 in Philadelphia, Indonesians may constitute one
of the region's largest immigrant groups affected by the registration. By their own
count, 80 percent are Catholics or Protestants who fled Indonesia after
Muslim-Christian violence in 1998.
"If there is turmoil in Indonesia, the victims are always Christians or [ethnic] Chinese,"
asserted the Rev. Yulianus Astanto Adi, an Indonesian Catholic priest at St. Thomas
Aquinas Church in South Philadelphia.
Fleeing or fearing attacks, many Indonesians have arrived here on short-term tourist
visas but never applied for asylum. For them, submitting to registration not only could
mean deportation but also conjures memories of times when Indonesia authorities
spot-checked IDs to find out a person's religion, some said.
"It is a traumatic thing... . It reminds people of ID sweeps," Landena said. "It's the
right of the United States government to protect its country and people... . But if the
main goal is to protect from terrorists, we have to look at people case by case."
An estimated 600 Indonesians swamped an information session with INS officials last
weekend at St. Thomas Aquinas Church. The turnout seemed to reveal a deep need
for the INS outreach, which was lacking during initial phases of registration when
hundreds of men were detained in Los Angeles and immigrant communities
nationwide recoiled in fear.
"There is an uncertain risk from going in to register," said Father Astanto Adi, the
Catholic priest. "If they know they won't be detained, they will register."
The meeting appeared to help. Local INS officials reiterated the policy that people with
minor violations, such as expired visas, will not be detained on the spot and simply
may get a notice to appear before a judge to decide their status later.
"The INS gave us assurances, if a bit under duress, that if people are here illegally,
they will get a notice, not detention, unless there is something criminal involved," said
the Rev. Thomas Betz, director of the Philadelphia Archdiocese Office for Pastoral
Care for Migrants and Refugees. "People are terrified, but they heard the message
and they are probably going to do the registration now."
Still, advocates are not taking chances. A cadre of volunteer priests and nuns is being
enlisted to monitor the registration. Hundreds of Indonesians have snapped up forms
to request accompaniment, Father Betz said.
"We will... sit in the waiting room and see who comes out," he said.
Ordered by Congress after the Sept. 11 attacks, the registration program began last
autumn at ports of entry and has been expanded to men already in the country. By
2005, the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System must keep track of
roughly 35 million foreign visitors annually.
As of last week, according to INS officials, 37,939 people have reported for registration
at INS offices nationwide, and 67,071 were registered as they entered the country.
About 2 percent (1,666) were detained and about 4 percent (3,975) received notices
for alleged immigration-law violations.
Registration now is looming for Landena. He said his visa (and those of his wife and
3-year-old daughter) expired last week. He has applied for a religious-worker visa and
hopes that will insulate him during registration.
"But if not, what can I do?" the pastor said. "If it's God's will, we will go back."
* Contact staff writer Thomas Ginsberg at 215-854-4177 or
tginsberg@phillynews.com.
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