The Status of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Indonesia

Indonesia is a transit country for asylum seekers and refugees from Asia and the Middle East. In the early 2000s, transit was relatively rapid as asylum seekers made their way onward to Australia by boat, but today, refugees face longer and longer waiting times as that avenue to protection has been closed. Indonesia is not a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and Southeast Asia has no human rights treaty. Indonesia has, however, ratified some of the core human rights treaties and, while the country has no national asylum system, some domestic laws provide for refugee rights. This article assesses the legal status of asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia under international and national law, with a focus on some of the rights fundamental to the experience of people seeking international protection. It discusses prospects for refugee protection in Indonesia, evaluating regional and national trends vis-à-vis irregular migrants, and concluding that, despite the development of a draft national law, refugees in Indonesia are unlikely to find durable solutions in the country in the near future.