Paper short abstract:

Although Indonesia has been an attractive transit country for asylum seekers for almost 20 years, the Indonesian government has refrained from passing special laws for the handling of asylum seekers during their time in transit.

Paper long abstract:

The absence of an overall legal framework for dealing with asylum seekers and refugees has given way to ad hoc procedures, which often lacked in consistency and sustainability. In particular immigration detention has been un(der)-regulated, which in turn gave way to the development of illicit practices among a number of state officials.

Assuming that asylum seekers would not stay for the long term in Indonesia, the Indonesian government gave way to such laissez fair attitudes and thus for many years has not only refrained from enforcing strict migration control, but also from producing standard operation procedures for immigration detention centres and other forms of community detention. With the closure of irregular pathways to Australia since September 2013, however, the Indonesian government can no longer afford its 'benevolent neglect' vis-à-vis the asylum seekers, as most of them will remain in transit in Indonesia for much longer. Binding regulations for their handling are necessary in order to prevent corrupt practices in detention centres and unjust 'special treatments' among certain ethnic groups.

The paper sheds light on the discretionary powers held by the heads of Indonesian detention centres in order to explain their impact on the treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in detention and it explains the logic behind the ongoing un(der)-regulation.