Legal Status of Refugees in Indonesia: Between Non-State Parties and the Principle of Non-Refoulement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29303/ulrev.v9i2.436Keywords:
Refugees, Indonesia, Asylum Seekers.Abstract
Indonesia is a country that is geographically strategic in the flow of global migration, but until now it has not been a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol. This non-binding has created uncertainty in the legal status and protection of international refugees in Indonesian territory. This article discusses how Indonesia, as a non-state party, continues to implement the principle of non-refoulement which is part of customary international law. Through a normative legal approach, this article examines national regulations such as the Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 concerning the Handling of Refugees, and Indonesia's cooperation with UNHCR in the process of Refugee Status Determination. The findings show that despite not being conventionally bound, Indonesia has demonstrated compliance with basic humanitarian principles, including the prohibition of forced return of refugees to countries of origin. However, the absence of a national asylum legal system has limited legal protection, access to basic rights, and long-term certainty for refugees. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the domestic legal framework in order to provide legal certainty and align national policies with international protection standards. This study offers novelty by examining the legal position of refugees in Indonesia from the perspective of a country that is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, but still applies the principle of non-refoulement as part of customary international law. Unlike previous studies that only highlight the role of UNHCR or the humanitarian aspect, this article emphasizes the importance of establishing a domestic legal framework as a form of state commitment in filling the gap in asylum law and providing certainty of long-term protection for refugees.
References
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Syahrin, M. Alvi. “The Implementation of Non-Refoulement Principle to the Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Indonesia.” Sriwijaya Law Review 1, no. 2 (2017): 168–78.
Villalpando, Santiago. “The Legal Dimension of the International Community : How Community Interests Are Protected in International.” European Journal of International Law 21, no. 2 (2010): 387–419. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chq038.
Adhaniah, Nurul, Dudy Heryadi, and Deasy Sylvia Sari. “The Cooperation of UNHCR and Indonesia on Afghan Refugee Handling in Indonesia.” Andalas Journal of International Studies X, no. 1 (2021): 51–65. https://doi.org/DOI: https://doi.org/10.25077/ajis.10.1.51-65.2021.
Adwani, Adwani, Rosmawati Rosmawati, and M. Ya’kub Aiyub Kadir. “The Responsibility in Protecting the Rohingya Refugees in Aceh Province, Indonesia: An International Refugees Law Perspective.” IIUM Law Journal 29, no. (S2) (2021): 1–21. https://doi.org/10.31436/iiumlj.v29i(s2).677.
Anker, Deborah E. “Refugee Law, Gender, and the Human Rights Paradigm.” International Refugee Law 25 (2017): 237–58. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315092478-11.
Asmara, Melina Tri, and Alvi Syahrin. “Aktualisasi Kebijakan Imigrasi Indonesia Terkait Hak Asasi Manusia Bagi Pengungsi Rohingya Di Indonesia.” Journal of Law and Border Protection 1, no. 2 (2021): 73–84.
Baban, Feyzi, Suzan Ilcan, and Kim Rygiel. “Syrian Refugees in Turkey: Pathways to Precarity, Differential Inclusion, and Negotiated Citizenship Rights.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 43, no. 1 (2017): 41–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2016.1192996.
Bruin, Rene, Kees Wouters. “Terrorism and the Non‐derogability of Non‐refoulement.” International Journal of Refugee Law 15, no. 1 (2003): 5–29. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/15.1.5.
Coleman, Nils. “Non-Refoulement Revised Renewed Review of the Status of the Principle of Non-Refoulement as Customary International Law.” European Journal of Migration and Law 5 (2003): 23–68. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/157181603100405657.
D’Angelo, Ellen F. “Non-Refoulement : The Search for a Consistent Interpretation of Article 33.” Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law 42, no. 1 (2009): 279–316. https://doi.org/https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/vantl42&div=9&id=&page=.
Ernawati, Ninin. “The Legal Consequences of the Application of Two Australian Policies as Members of the 1951 Refugee Convention Reviewed from the VCLT 1969.” Jurnal IUS 7, no. 1 (2019).
Harrell-Bond, Barbara. “Can Humanitarian Work with Refugees Be Humane?” Human Rights Quarterly 24, no. 1 (2002): 51–85. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2002.0011.
Havez, M., Ernawati, N., Pitaloka, D., Rosidi, A., & Jumadi, J. “Balancing Local Community Interest and International Responsibilities in the Context of the Expulsion of Rohingya Refugees in Aceh.” Indonesian Journal of International Law 21, no. 4 (2024): 6. https://doi.org/10.17304/ijil.vol21.4.1823.
Janmyr, Maja. “The 1951 Refugee Convention and Non-Signatory States : Charting a Research Agenda” 33, no. 2 (2021): 188–213.
Kim, Seunghwan. “Non-Refoulement and Extraterritorial Jurisdiction: State Sovereignty and Migration Controls at Sea in the European Context.” Leiden Journal of International Law 30, no. 1 (2017): 49–70. https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0922156516000625.
Liliansa, Dita, Dita Liliansa, and Anbar Jayadi. “Should Indonesia Accede To The 1951 Refugee Convention And Its 1967 Protocol ?” 5, no. 3 (2015). https://doi.org/10.15742/ilrev.v5n3.161.
McMillan, K., & Petcharamesree, S. “Towards an Asean Model of ‘Responsibility-Sharing’for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers.” Asia-Pacific Journal on Human Rights and the Law 22, no. 1 (2021): 49–68. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1163/15718158-22010005.
Sadjad, Mahardhika Sjamsoe oed. “What Are Refugees Represented to Be? A Frame Analysis of the Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 Concerning the Treatment of Refugees ‘from Abroad.’” Asian Journal of Law and Society 8, no. 3 (2021): 451–66. https://doi.org/10.1017/als.2021.3.
Soeryabrata, Titi Herwati. “Juridical Review of the Refugees in Indonesia from the Human Rights Side and the Private Protection” 140, no. Icleh (2020): 271–76. https://doi.org/10.2991/aebmr.k.200513.055.
Syahrin, M. A. “The Rohingya Refugee Crisis: Legal Protection on International Law and Islamic Law.” In 1st International Conference on Indonesian Legal Studies (ICILS 2018), . 94-99, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2991/icils-18.2018.18.
Syahrin, M. Alvi. “The Implementation of Non-Refoulement Principle to the Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Indonesia.” Sriwijaya Law Review 1, no. 2 (2017): 168–78.
Villalpando, Santiago. “The Legal Dimension of the International Community : How Community Interests Are Protected in International.” European Journal of International Law 21, no. 2 (2010): 387–419. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chq038.
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