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When a boat goes into distress, Australian or Indonesian search-and-rescue obligations
are triggered. 25 Some boat passengers hope merely to reach Australian territorial waters in
order to call for help there.
Left without Legal Status or Protection
Indonesia
Migrants and asylum seekers receive a poor welcome in Indonesia, which has faulty or
non-existent mechanisms for protecting asylum seekers and child migrants. A variety of
government bodies in Indonesia offer incomplete care for migrants in Indonesia. The
Directorate General for Immigration oversees immigration detention facilities and should
take responsibility for migrants outside of detention but does not meet these duties.
Likewise, the Ministry for Social Welfare is responsible for child protection, but is not
tasked to protect migrant children. 26
Indonesia has a recent history as a country of emigration, and indeed, the Indonesian
government takes steps to protect its own citizens abroad. Indonesia has ratified the
International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families, 27 and it takes measures to aid Indonesians working as, for
instance, domestic workers in Malaysia or elsewhere. 28 Indonesia has also taken steps
25 Both Australia and Indonesia are signatories to International Convention on MaritFime Search and Rescue, 1979, as
Amended. State parties are obliged to extend aid without regard to nationality, status, or circumstances of the person or
people in distress (Annex of the Convention Chapter 2.1.10,
http://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%201405/volume-1405-I-23489-English.pdf (accessed April 25, 2013);
signatories listed at “Status of multilateral Conventions and instruments in respect of which the International Maritime
Organization or its Secretary-General performs depositary or other functions,” March 2013,
http://www.imo.org/About/Conventions/StatusOfConventions/Documents/Status%20-%202013.pdf (accessed April 25,
2013), p. 410.
26 The functions of the Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection are stipulated in Presidential Regulation No.
24/2010, article 46. Neither this nor the Law on Child Protection No. 23/2002 clarifies responsibilities for migrant children.
27 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (Migrant
Workers Convention), adopted December 18, 1990, G.A, Res. 45/158, annex, 45 U.N. GAOR Supp. (No. 49A) at 262, U.N. Doc.
A/45/49 (1990), entered into force July 1, 2003, art. 16.
28 According to 2009 data from the National Agency for the Protection and Placement of Indonesian Migrant Workers, there
were approximately 4.3 million Indonesians living abroad for work at that time, typically as laborers or domestic workers,
International Labour Organization, “Combating Forced Labour and Trafficking of Indonesian Migrant Workers,”
http://www.ilo.org/jakarta/whatwedo/projects/WCMS_116048/lang--en/index.htm (accessed June 10, 2013). The
population of undocumented migrants is estimated to be two to four times that amount. Organizations such as Migrant Care,
a Jakarta-based NGO, put current estimates of documented and undocumented Indonesians abroad at more than 10 million,
Human Rights Watch interview with Anis Hidaya, Migrant Care, Jakarta, August 30, 2012.
17 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JUNE 2013