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Refugees stranded in Indonesia feature in ground-breaking narrative podcast series 

The Wait is a new five-part narrative podcast series, telling the story of the refugees stranded in Indonesia as a result of Australia’s border crackdown. 

Two years in the making, The Wait is told through the eyes of Mozhgan Moarefizadeh, a 29-year-old refugee from Iran. She’s been stuck in Jakarta with her family for most of her adult life—with no right to work, study, marry, travel, or hold a bank account. Her future is uncertain. 

Over five 40-minute episodes, Moarefizadeh, alongside Australian journalist Nicole Curby, explores how Australia’s immigration policy has essentially created a proxy border in Indonesia, trapping thousands like her in a state of limbo with almost no rights. The Wait is a compelling and innovative combination of in-depth interviews, field reporting, audio diaries and conversations. 

Curby said: “As the impacts of Australia’s border policy stretch further from our shores, they become harder to see. The boats have stopped, but we aren’t hearing the rest of the story. Australia is continuing to invest in keeping refugees in Indonesia, where they live without rights. The series is the first in-depth exploration of how the consequences of Australia’s border are being pushed over the horizon and into Indonesia.

“When I met Mozhgan three years ago she flipped everything I thought I knew about refugees on it’s head. I became captivated by her story and the world that she opened up to me. Mozhgan took me to meet her friends and community, brought me into her darkest moments, and I knew that this was a story that had to be heard.”

Moarefizadeh said: “I wanted to connect with people on a personal level, so they can relate to us and feel that we’re as normal as they are. But we just happen to be caught in these circumstances. It could happen to anyone. As soon as I tell people I'm a refugee they look at me as though I have horns in my head. They’re shocked because I’m so far from what they think a refugee is, or should be. Either that, or they pity me.” 

The show’s co-writer and supervising producer is Michael Green, who was the host and producer of the Walkley Award–winning podcast, The Messenger, about life in detention on Manus Island.

The Wait is produced by Nicole Curby, Mozhgan Moarefizadeh, Michael Green and Bec Fary, with Miles Martignoni from The Guardian. It was supported by the Walkley Foundation and the Judith Neilson Institute, and first aired on The Guardian’s Full Story podcast. 

Subscribe to The Wait for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app. Find out more at thewaitpodcast.com. For more information, please contact: niccurby@gmail.com 

Short summary of the series

Mozhgan Moarefizadeh is stuck in Jakarta, living without rights—but with a yappy dog named Bella. With journalist Nicole Curby, she brings you into the lives of refugees like her, who are trapped on Australia’s new borderline, in Indonesia.

Longer summary of the series

It’s 2013. One night at 4 am, Mozhgan Moarefizadeh and her family slip away from immigration detention in Jakarta. They walk for hours in heavy rain, with no phones and no idea where they are. Mozhgan is 21, and it’s the start of her new life. 

For years the news in Australia was full of stories about offshore detention on Manus Island and Nauru. But the boats have stopped. The news has gone quiet. First, Australians convinced themselves there was a big problem, and now they think it’s faded away.

But Mozhgan isn’t fading away. She and her family fled Iran, only to find themselves stranded in Jakarta. They’ve been living for seven years without the right to work, study, marry, travel, or even hold a bank account. Many thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia are enduring the same ordeal.

In The Wait, Mozhgan and journalist Nicole Curby investigate how Australia has created a new border, inside Indonesia, and ask who’s responsible for its consequences. In a disused army barracks, a forgotten church garden, and the hills above Jakarta, Mozhgan and Nicole meet the people who are stuck there. As they go, they're trying to find out: what does it mean to be caught forever on the run, trapped in a permanent in-between? Can the future hold any hope?

Threaded through it all is Mozghan’s drive and her fear: will she—and her family—survive the wait? 

The Wait is a five-part narrative podcast, two years in the making. First aired by The Guardian’s Full Story, and supported by the Walkley Foundation, The Wait is a compelling and innovative combination of in-depth interviews, field reporting, audio diaries and conversations.