ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the experiences of exiles and their strategies to deal with the political and social barriers which they faced as a consequence of institutional and social exclusion not only of themselves but also of their family members both at home and abroad. Through the stories of exiles that after the 1965 purge eventually came to reside in countries provided opportunities for exiles, one can obtain a notion not only of their formal deprivation of citizenship but also their tenacious sense of belonging and affinity with the Indonesian nation. The Indonesian students who later became exiles were confronted with these different political orientations and the larger Sino-Soviet tensions. This also resulted in tensions and splits between these students where political boundaries became strongly defined. The forced exile of those who were abroad during the 1965-1966 purges had clear and direct psychological, social, and political effects on them and their family members back home.
