Although Indonesia is not one of the countries that signed the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol, the right to seek asylum is guaranteed in the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Article 28G paragraph (2) which reads: “Everyone has the right to free from torture or other degrading treatment and entitled to political asylum from other countries ”.
Refugee Law: Human Rights in Indonesia
Human Rights Law No.39 of 1999 Article 28 also guarantees that: "Everyone has the right to seek asylum to obtain political protection from other countries."
Asylum seekers can refer to the following international legal bases:
- Non-refoulement: article 3 of the Convention Against Torture, as well as in the Indonesian Constitution;
- Non-discrimination, article 3 of the Human Rights Law No. 39 of 1999, the ICCPR and the ICESCR;
- Freedom of religion: article 28E and 29 of Constitution, article 22 of the Human Rights Law, article 18 of the ICCPR, article 14 of the CRC;
- Right to marriage: article 28B of the Constitution, article 10 of the Human Rights Law, and article 23 of the ICCPR;
- Right of association: article 28E of the Constitution, article 24 and 39 of the Human Rights Law, article 22 of the ICCPR, and article 8 of the ICESCR;
- Access to court and legal assistance: article 28D of the Constitution; articles 5, 18, 66 of the Human Rights Law; and article 14 of the ICCPR and Law on Legal Aid No.16 of 2011;
- Right to engage in wage-earning employment: article 28E of the Constitution, article 38 of the Human Rights Law, and article 6 of the ICESCR;
- Right to housing: article 28E and 28H of the Constitution, article 40 Human Rights Law, and article 11 of the ICESCR;
- Right to public education: article 28C and 28E of the Constitution, article 12 and 60 of the Human Rights Law, and article 13 of the ICESCR;
- Freedom of movement, as guaranteed in the article 27 of the Human Rights Law, and article 12 of the ICCPR;
- Right for naturalization: article 28D and 28E Constitution, article 26 of the Human Rights Law, and the Law on Nationality No. 12 of 2006.
