Workshop Report: “Presidential Regulation No.125 of 2016 on the Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges”
The Faculty of Law Universitas Indonesia in collaboration with Melbourne University Law School held a Workshop “Presidential Regulation No.125 of 2016 on the Treatment of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Indonesia: Opportunities and Challenges”. This workshop was held until March 21, 2019 in the Professor Meeting Room, FH UI Depok.
Participants who attended the workshop consisted of 50 participants from abroad and within the country. This was confirmed by Mr. Heru Susetyo, S.H., M.Sc., LL.M., Ph.D.
“There are around 50 participants coming from inside and outside the country. From abroad, there are around 10 people from Australia, then from France, Vietnam, Germany, there are about seven foreign countries,” said Mr. Heru Susetyo, S.H., M.Sc., LL.M., Ph.D.
This series of workshops aims to examine the fate of SUAKA Indonesia refugees to provide recommendations to the government.
On December 31, 2016, the Government of Indonesia ratified the Republic of Indonesia Presidential Regulation (PERPRES) Number 125 of 2016 concerning the Handling of Refugees from Abroad. According to SUAKA, the Indonesian civil society network for the protection of refugee rights, the issuance of the PERPRES is a progress after long planned since 2010.
Normatively, this PERPRES fills in the legal vacuum for the regulation of refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, which is stated in Article 28G of the Constitution and Article 25-27 of Law No. 37 of 1999 concerning Foreign Relations.
To be effectively implemented, SUAKA encourages the Government to carry out further dissemination and socialization of this Presidential Regulation to local government agencies, especially those that have been close to the problems of refugees, such as Aceh, Makassar, Medan, Tanjung Pinang, Kupang, and West Java. This is important so that the Local Government opens itself and its territory, and can provide good handling of refugees, especially for vulnerable groups.
