Indonesia

Operations context

As the world’s fourth most populous nation, Indonesia is an emerging lower middle-income country that has made enormous gains in poverty reduction. However, of a population of around 264 million people, some 26 million still lived below the poverty line. While efforts were made to improve basic public services, the quality of health clinics and schools remained inconsistent, contributing to concerning indicators, particularly in health.

In 2019, UNHCR supported the Government to implement the presidential regulation for handling refugees (2016) in the key areas of registration, documentation, refugee status determination (RSD), data sharing and durable solutions. The Office focused on resilience and expanding comprehensive solutions though livelihood opportunities, as well as increasing access to complementary pathways for admission to third countries. Despite the challenging political and economic environment, Indonesia engaged in constructive discussions about increasing refugee self-reliance and made significant pledges at the Global Refugee Forum.

Population trends

At the end of 2019, the population of concern was almost 13,700, coming from 45 countries of origin and including some 10,300 refugees and 3,400 asylum-seekers. Some 3,900 people of concern were children, of whom nearly 200 were unaccompanied or separated.
Some 1,000 asylum-seekers (60% female and 40% male) registered with UNHCR during the year, a 33% decrease from 2018, continuing a downward trend from 2017. Of those registered, the largest group originated from Afghanistan (36%), followed by Yemen (15%) and Sri Lanka (12%). The majority of asylum-seekers continued to enter Indonesia irregularly through well-established people smuggling networks.

During the year, nearly 1,300 cases were closed due to departure for resettlement, assisted voluntary repatriation or spontaneous departures.

Achievements

•  Targeted advocacy on alternatives to detention resulted in an 88% reduction in people of concern detained after wide-scale transfers to community accommodations. No children remained in immigration detention at the end of the year.
• Enhanced efficiency of RSD processing, through prioritized and accelerated procedures and increased quality of registration data, significantly reduced waiting times and virtually eliminated the RSD backlog.
• UNHCR collaborated with ILO, local social entrepreneurs and the private sector to conduct entrepreneurship training programmes and small-scale vocational trainings with a view to building self-reliance.
• UNHCR and partners continued to promote gender equality in refugee leadership structures. Targeted training encouraged women to participate in leadership positions, in addition to building skills and vocational training. 
• A home for vulnerable women and children maintained a total capacity of 40 people.

Unmet needs

The operation was funded at 58% of needs in 2019. The impact of limited funding meant that: 

• 1,100 protection monitoring visits to sites where there was a risk of refoulement (such as airports and detention centres) did not take place; nor did joint monitoring activities for maritime movements with the national Search and Rescue Agency.
• 300 refugees were unable to participate in important livelihood training and activities.
• 200 refugees and Indonesians did not benefit from coexistence projects designed to reduce tensions between refugee and host communities.
• 150 extremely vulnerable refugee households did not receive financial assistance to meet their basic needs and were at risk of resorting to negative coping mechanisms.
• 80 unaccompanied minors were not supported with skills and opportunities to cope with challenges once they leave group homes.
• 40 children did not receive support to enrol in and attend school.
• The Office was not able to strengthen prevention of SGBV, as some 10 envisaged campaigns did not take place.

Operational Environment

The increased number of vulnerable refugees and asylum-seekers in need of assistance, the reduced opportunities for resettlement, and the need for longer-term in-country solutions, including access to education and livelihoods, are the major factors influencing UNHCR’s multi-year protection and solutions strategy. Although full implementation has been delayed, the 2016 Presidential Regulation on the Handling of Refugees provides a good legal framework for the development of UNHCR’s activities in Indonesia.
 
UNHCR diversified its partner base in 2018 with an aim to identify new stakeholders who can support furthering the protection of people of concern. For example, the office has partnered with ILO on a project targeting both refugees and the local population. The partnership with ILO builds on cooperation that goes beyond humanitarian and refugee affairs alone, and has potential to grow further.
 
The cooperation with IOM will also be further enhanced, especially in light of decreased financial support for refugees and asylum-seekers in Indonesia. UNHCR and IOM may need to double coordination efforts in order to achieve the same level of results as in the past. In 2019, UNHCR will also pilot a partnership with a strategically selected learning centres managed by refugees. These centres will prepare refugee children for attending Indonesian public schools through the provision of Bahasa language classes.

Key priorities

UNHCR priorities in 2019 centre on providing expertise and support to government ministries responsible for implementing the Presidential Regulation in order to ensure protection is provided to refugees in line with international standards. This will include advocacy for a range of temporary stay measures and solutions, in light of the limited resettlement places. To ensure the effective protection of refugees, support to the Government will focus on registration and documentation, two areas that are specifically provided for under the Presidential Regulation. UNHCR will continue to use refugee status determination (RSD) strategically to address the Government’s concerns, and will identify resettlement opportunities for the most vulnerable while promoting access to livelihoods opportunities that benefit both refugees and host communities. Community-based protection mechanisms will be strengthened to promote mutual support and self-reliance, while UNHCR will continue to focus on addressing the needs of the most vulnerable among the population, particularly women and children. These needs include access to basic assistance, healthcare, and education.