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Indonesia’s transformed stance toward refugees, asylum seekers

JP/Hotli SimanjuntakThe issue of refugees and asylum seekers traveling to Australia from Indonesia has long been a sensitive aspect of the countries’ bilateral relationship

Catherine Pagliaro (The Jakarta Post)
Bandung
Tue, December 3, 2019

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Indonesia’s transformed stance toward refugees, asylum seekers

JP/Hotli Simanjuntak

The issue of refugees and asylum seekers traveling to Australia from Indonesia has long been a sensitive aspect of the countries’ bilateral relationship. To ameliorate its frustrations, Australia has actively sought to mold Indonesia’s foreign and domestic policies on this issue. However under President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Indonesia appears to be distancing itself from Australia and devising policy solutions independently.

In Australia, the issue of “unauthorized boat arrivals” is a divisive political issue that has continuously decided electoral outcomes since the Tampa Affair of 2001, when Australia refused entry to Norwegian cargo ship MV Tampa after it rescued 438 people, mostly Afghan asylum seekers, from an Indonesian fishing boat 140 kilometers northwest of Christmas Island.

Canberra has adopted a “tough on asylum seekers” approach, deploying policies to deter asylum seekers and deny their access to Australia. The Pacific Solution, which operated in two periods, one from 2001 to 2008 and the other from 2012 to the present, is one such policy. Under this policy, asylum seekers who arrive by boat are mandatorily detained at immigration detention centers in Australia or offshore (Christmas Island, Nauru and Manus Island) while their refugee status is determined. Additionally, it is now Australian policy that no asylum seekers who reach or attempt to reach Australia by boat without visa documentation will ever be resettled in Australia.

In contrast, Indonesia’s policies towards refugees and asylum seekers have historically been characterized by “tolerant protection”. While not party to the United Nations’ 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, Jakarta allows the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to work within the country. This enables those seeking refugee status to have their claim processed and be resettled. According to the UNHCR, in 2018 Indonesia hosted 14,200 refugees and asylum seekers from 47 countries.

Many more live in Indonesia undocumented.

Some are detained by the Indonesian government, but most reside in UNHCR accommodation or in makeshift tents on the streets. They live in limbo, waiting up to nine years for their claims to be processed (or for an opportunity to get to Australia), while being denied the right to work and to access education, public services or citizenship.

In a bid to stem the flow of asylum seekers originating from Indonesia, Australia has effectively exported aspects of its “tough on asylum seeker” policies.

First, deepened bilateral diplomatic engagement has prompted Indonesia to make policy adjustments. For example, under the Regional Cooperation Agreement (RCA) of 2000, Indonesia agreed to intercept “Australia bound” “irregular migrants”, and refer them to the IOM for “case management and care”, the costs of which would be covered by Australia. Further, under the 2006 Lombok Treaty, Indonesia agreed to crack down on people smuggling by allowing Australia to conduct border patrols in Indonesian waters. It also allowed those rescued to alight on Indonesian, rather than Australian, territory.

Second, Australia has shaped Indonesia’s foreign policy through extensive financial support and other resources, including infrastructure, equipment, technical assistance and training. In 2006 and 2007 Australia supported the Enhanced “Cekal” System — a border alert system that helps Indonesia to detect and intercept the movement of irregular migrants. Additionally, the 2007 Management and Care of Irregular Immigrants Project saw Australia fund the renovation and refurbishment of Indonesia’s two largest immigration detention facilities to expand capacity.

Third, Australia has applied significant and sustained diplomatic pressure to influence Indonesian legislative changes. As summarized by Caroline Millar, the Australian “ambassador for smuggling issues”, under the Bali Process, Australia helped Indonesia draft anti-smuggling laws and helped build capacity “to deal with illegal immigration in areas such as border management, visa systems and verification of identity and nationality”.

This materialized in the introduction of Law 6/2011 on immigration, which stipulated mandatory detention for all intercepted migrants while attempting to leave or enter Indonesia irregularly.

However, in recent years Australia has adopted a less invasive approach. This is evinced by behavior such as Australia’s March 2018 decision to cut its funding of the IOM’s Indonesian activities. Simultaneously, Indonesia has demonstrated an increasing propensity to carve out its own refugee and asylum seeker policies, rather than behave as Australia’s puppet. These trends signal Indonesia’s return to a bebas aktif (free and active) policy approach.

Indonesia’s response to the 2015 Rohingya boat crisis was the first indicator of this shift. Indonesia’s navy was initially deployed to turn back boats carrying Rohingya asylum seekers entering its waters. However, the local Acehnese responded with hospitality. Fishermen brought the boats to shore, and some 1,800 of the members of Myanmar’s Muslim minority were offered shelter, food and clothing. Then in response to international pressure, Jakarta pledged to provide the Rohingya with temporary protection while their resettlement claims were processed and allowed Acehnese authorities to establish emergency provincial detention facilities.

Had the Acehnese been less hospitable, the government could have maintained its tough façade by continuing to actively block the Rohingya’s arrival. However, the subsequent issuance of Presidential Decree No. 125/ 2016 on the handling of foreign refugees indicates that this event occurred within a broader policy shift: Indonesia’s return to a more humanitarian “tolerant protection” of refugees and asylum seekers.

The decree was passed in December 2016, following a four-year drafting process. It affirms the definition of refugees contained in the 1951 Refugee Convention, that is, a foreigner residing in Indonesian territory because of a “well-founded fear of persecution”. This unified Indonesia’s working definition and represented a departure from the labeling of asylum seekers as illegal immigrants.

The decree standardized “non-arbitrary refoulement” and focuses on the rescue, evacuation, monitoring, registration and accommodation of refugees. Additionally, the decree clarifies the respective responsibilities of Indonesian governmental and non-governmental bodies and delegates substantial responsibility to subnational levels of administration. In essence, the decree evinces a renewed willingness by Indonesia to accommodate refugees and asylum seekers.

Today, Australia’s refusal to accept asylum seekers who arrive by boat is creating a backlog with worsening humanitarian implications. Inadequate resourcing means refugees can wait up to nine years in Indonesia for their claims to be processed. Frustration is brewing, as evinced by the September/October refugee protests outside the UNHCR’s Indonesia offices. It remains to be seen whether Indonesia under Jokowi will continue to offer “tolerant protection” or will revert to the Australian-influenced “tough on asylum seekers” approach.

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Student at Monash University, Victoria, Australia, undertaking the Australian Consortium for In-Country Indonesian Studies (ACICIS) in international relations at Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar), Bandung.

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