Indonesia has ratified a range of international and regional human rights norms relevant to the protection of migrant workers. The table below demonstrates some of the norms to which Indonesia is a state party:

Human rights norms

Form

Type

Adopted by

Status of ratification

Date of ratification

International

Global Compact on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration

Agreement

Non-legally binding

United Nations

Ratified

December 10, 2018

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals

Agreement

Non-legally binding

United Nations

Ratified

September 25, 2015

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW)

Convention

Legally binding

United Nations

Ratified

May 31, 2012

ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

-

-

ILO Convention 188 on Work in Fishing

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

-

-

ILO Convention 181 Private Employment Agencies

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

-

-

ILO Convention 097 on Migration for Employment

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

-

-

ILO Convention 105 on Abolition of Forced Labour

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

Ratified

June 07, 1999

ILO Convention 111 on Discrimination in Employment and Occupation

Convention

Legally binding

International Labour Organization

Ratified

June 07, 1999

Regional

ASEAN Declaration on the Rights of Children in the Context of Migration

Declaration

Non-legally binding

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Ratified

November 2, 2019

ASEAN Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (ASEAN Consensus)

Consensus

Non-legally binding

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Ratified

November 14, 2017

ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP)

Convention

Legally binding

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Ratified

November 22, 2015

ASEAN Declaration on Strengthening Social Protection

Declaration

Non-legally binding

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

Ratified

October 9, 2013

Source: OHCHR and ILO

 

Challenges to the holistic protection of Indonesian migrant workers

As one of the UN’s nine core conventions, the Convention on Migrant Workers (CMW) is the most comprehensive legally-binding instrument to protect and promote the rights of all migrants and their family members, regardless of their immigration status. The reality, however, is rather disappointing. By September 2021, the Convention had only been ratified by 56 member states, making it the least ratified convention among all the other major human rights treaties. Even more disappointing is the fact that the vast majority of these state parties are countries of origin, including Indonesia, and none of these state parties are common destinations for Indonesian migrant workers. Such discrepancy presents a huge challenge to ensuring the holistic protection of Indonesian migrant workers at all stages of migration.

In the midst of such challenges, the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM) holds the promise of hope. Though non-legally binding, the agreement sets out a range of human rights principles that address various pressing issues that migrants are facing today, and it has been widely accepted worldwide. On the date of signing, in fact, as many as 164 member states adopted the GCM–with the exception of the United States, Australia, Austria, Poland, Hungary, Chile, and Slovakia. It is perhaps the non-legally binding nature of the agreement itself that lends some level of comfort to member states to adopt it and contextualize its implementation in their socio-political contexts.

At the level of ASEAN, some progress was made in 2017 when ASEAN Member States adopted the so-called ASEAN Consensus to reaffirm the commitments they made a decade earlier (2007) through the adoption of ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers (Cebu Declaration). Perhaps most notable in the new document is the recognition of the rights of undocumented migrant workers. Being non-legally binding, however, the document is thought to have no legal ‘teeth’ to function meaningfully. Concerns over this issue are heightened by the provision mandating that these commitments are to be implemented according to Member States’ own legal frameworks, with due regards to the principles of non-interference and consensus. Furthermore, the ASEAN Consensus falls short of the CMW as it does not specify the rights of migrants’ family members as stipulated clearly in the CMW. Despite these shortcomings, the ASEAN Consensus embodies Member States’ renewed commitments to the protection of migrant workers’ rights.

Updated on 24 September 2021.