THE IMPLICATION OF DEFINING REFUGEE IN INDONESIAN IMMIGRATION LEGAL SYSTEM

Abstract

Indonesia as a country which did not ratify UN Convention 1951 on Status of Refugees and Protocol 1967,  issued a Presidential Decree No.125/2016 on Handling Overseas Refugee in addressing the issues of  foreign nation subject who intend to seek refuge by passing through Indonesian territory, generally aiming  to seek refuge in Australia. These foreign nation subject introduced as “refugee” by media although the  subject is unrecognized by Indonesian immigration law system. Indonesian immigration law only recognize  subject as a person who enter or leave Indonesian territory by legal or illegal means. The definition of  Refugee on Presidential Decree No.125/2016 is the first definition of the subject in Indonesian legal system,  refers to both Refugee and Asylum Seekers in UN Convention 1951, which supposed to have different  handling methods. Therefore, the implementation of Presidential Decree No.125/2016 leads to different  understanding in immigration and foreign policy perspective on Refugee subject.