Indonesia as a non-signatory state of the 1951 Refugee Convention and how does it affect Indonesia’s foreign policy on Rohingya refugees

Abstract

This study examines Indonesia's standing as a non-participatory state to the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol to see how this affects Indonesia's refugee governance as well as its foreign policy towards Rohingya refugees. It is an important issue since Indonesia still receives and manages refugees although it does not become part of the international refugee regime in a legal sense. Previous pieces of literature mainly discusse refugee management in terms of signatory states to the international refugee regime while little literature exists discussing the implication of non-ratification in refugee management. In addressing this issue, two questions will be answered; first, why hasn't Indonesia ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol? Second, How does Indonesia's non-signatory position affect Indonesia foreign policy response toward Rohingya refugee? Based on Rational Choice Theory (RCT), a qualitative case study and document analysis methodology is applied in analyzing the problem. This study finds that the non-ratification of Indonesia is explained by the issues of sovereignty, institutional capacities, burden sharing, and the non-interference principle of ASEAN. However, this particular position allows Indonesia to use legal and political flexibility as a means to have selective, temporal, and adaptive policies concerning Rohingya refugees. Moreover, the research shows that the refugee policies of Indonesia are also determined by humanitarian pressure, domestic political issues, and cooperation with non-state actors like local communities, NGOs, UNHCR, and IOM. By using the shadow comparison method with the Philippines, the study proves that there is no linear relationship between legal ratification and the results of refugee governance. Instead, refugee policies are a result of the interplay between sovereignty issues, state capacity, strategic issues, and political flexibility. This research contributes to the literature on refugee policy and foreign policy in Indonesia by challenging the legal-determinist assumption and demonstrating that Indonesia's non-ratification of the 1951 refugee convention operates as a strategic foreign policy mechanism through which the state manages refugee issues while preserving sovereignty, policy flexibility, and regional diplomatic interests.