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After 11 years in Indonesian limbo, Afghan refugee finds a home in Australia
For years, Bibi Rahima Farhangdost was a nursing assistant with no right to work, trapped in limbo with thousands of others
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It was a day Bibi Rahima Farhangdost feared might never come.
After 11 years living in limbo in Indonesia as an Afghan refugee, she was finally on her way to a new life in Australia, boarding a flight to Tasmania at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on July 23.
“Finally, it happened. I love Tasmania. The weather is a bit cold, but the air is fresh, and the people are nice in Australia,” she told This Week in Asia from her new home.
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Farhangdost is among a limited number of refugees in Indonesia who have been able to move to Australia through a programme called “Talent Beyond Boundaries”. The initiative allows refugees with applicable skills to resettle in third countries, and will be working as a nursing assistant caring for the elderly.
Her case stands out not only for its happy ending, but also because so few in her situation ever get that far. Indonesia hosts thousands of refugees, but as a non-signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, it does not offer permanent resettlement, and asylum seekers are banned from working or studying. Many wait years in uncertainty, with no path forward and no right to build a life.
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According to the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) 2025 report, there are some 12,000 refugees registered in Indonesia, around 5,000 of whom are from Afghanistan.
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