Cisarua, three hours south of Jakarta, where hundreds of people seek asylum in Australia

If you want to meet some future Australians, head to a small town in the hills about three hours drive south of Jakarta. It’s the place where thousands of Afghan asylum seekers gather before they board boats and cross the sea to Christmas Island. The town is called Cisarua and it’s Australia’s waiting room in Asia.

Our guides were two Afghan men with little in common other than they were both seeking a better life. We can’t give you their real names so we’ll call them Abdul and Hamad.