Beyond Administrative Containment: A Decade Of Normative Gaps In Indonesia's Refugee Governance Under Presidential Regulation No. 125/2016

Abstract

This article presents a critical legal analysis of Indonesia's refugee governance a decade after the landmark Presidential Regulation No. 125/2016 (Perpres 125/2016). Utilising doctrinal, comparative, and normative legal research methods, the study dissects the regulation's efficacy in bridging the gap between Indonesia's non-signatory status to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its binding international human rights obligations. The findings reveal that while Perpres 125/2016 has successfully instilled a system of administrative coordination for initial humanitarian response, standardising rescue operations, interministerial roles, and temporary shelter, it has failed to address fundamental normative deficiencies. These issues include an ongoing structural contradiction with the Immigration Act, which views refugees as illegal immigrants; a strong dependence on UNHCR and IOM for essential protection roles; and significant disparities in local implementation caused by decentralisation and lack of funding mandates. The article argues that the regulation represents a policy of containment over protection, prioritising logistical management and humanitarian diplomacy over the establishment of a rights-based framework. Consequently, refugees remain in protracted legal limbo, denied rights to work, education, and durable solutions. The analysis suggests that implementing transformative reform involves a fundamental change from just temporary humanitarian efforts to building a sustainable protection system. This journey includes making statutory immigration reforms, establishing a national Refugee Status Determination process, and clearly incorporating socioeconomic rights into the national legal framework.