Melbourne Law School - Theses
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Item‘Not served on a silver plate’: The role of civil society actors in promoting the human rights of refugees in Indonesia( 2023-05)Indonesia is one of the main hosting countries for refugees and asylum seekers in Southeast Asia but is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention and has scant domestic law pertaining to refugees. This thesis analyses the extent to which refugees can access the rights to education, healthcare, and livelihoods in Indonesia, as these rights have been identified by refugees themselves as fundamental rights for a dignified life while in prolonged “transit” in Indonesia. I argue that in the absence of the state, civil society plays a key role in service delivery and advocacy for the realisation of these human rights for marginalised non-citizens. The thesis also proposes that Indonesia’s denial of employment rights, which renders some refugees destitute thereby necessitating a return to their country due to economic compulsion, may constitute what human rights groups have deemed “constructive refoulement”. Civil society organisations (CSOs), whether international non-governmental organisations (NGOs), local NGOs or refugee-led organisations such as learning centres, fill a major gap in service provision and undertake advocacy to advance refugee rights. They do so in what scholars have identified as an increasingly illiberal political environment under President Joko Widodo. The difficult conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic have only emphasised the important role of civil society organisations in providing for refugees’ basic needs in Indonesia. However, my research finds that while CSO service provision and activism is remarkably effective in the Indonesian context, ultimately the state must assume greater responsibility to ensure refugee protection and that Indonesia’s obligations under international human rights law are fulfilled.