A generous man caught in the system

The hotel cleaner was knocking on the door, telling him it was time to check out. But he didn’t want to leave. He had hardly slept and hadn’t eaten since a meal on the plane from Dubai the day before. The man who had met him at the airport in Jakarta had taken his false passport and, as a final payment, almost all of his money. “Okay, okay, finish,” said the cleaner knocking on the door. “Finish, finish.” He had called his wife, Sultana, to tell her he’d arrived. She sounded groggy on the phone, and when he asked why, she told him it was the middle of the night where she was, in the Yemeni port city of Aden. Only then did he realise he was in a time zone several hours ahead of the Middle East. He had spent US$50 on the room and had just $20 left in his pocket. His plan was to visit the local office of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, where he hoped to find support and accommodation. Then, with any luck, he’d be leaving Jakarta to find a new home for him and his family. This is the story of Mohammad Abdul Aziz Osman, a Somali refugee who has lived on his wits on the streets of Jakarta for nearly four years. Like thousands of other refugees in transit countries like Indonesia, he is stuck in limbo and cut off from family and support