Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

Forty-first session

Summary record of the 611th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, at 10 a.m.

Chair:Ms. Diallo

Contents

Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 73 of the Convention (continued)

Second periodic report of Indonesia

The meeting was called to order at 10.05 a.m.

Consideration of reports submitted by States Parties under article 73 of the Convention (continued)

Second periodic report of Indonesia (CMW/C/IDN/2; CMW/C/IDN/QPR/2)

At the invitation of the Chair, the delegation of Indonesia joined the meeting.

The Chair, welcoming the delegation of Indonesia to the meeting,said that its attendance in person clearly demonstrated the State Party’s support for the human rights treaty body system as a whole and the Committee in particular.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Government was committed to ensuring that Indonesian citizens working abroad were duly protected and, equally, to upholding the rights of all migrant workers in Indonesia. As part of its preparation for the dialogue, it had carefully considered submissions from and directly engaged with national human rights institutions and civil society organizations, whose critical perspectives informed ongoing work to improve policies and implementation mechanisms developed with the aim of protecting migrant workers. Since it had ratified the Convention, Indonesia had treated that objective as integral to national development and had established related priorities in the eight-point national development agenda, Asta Cita, and the National Medium-term Development Plan 2025–2029.

A representative of Indonesia, introducing his country’s second periodic report (CMW/C/IDN/2), said that the Government had made significant progress in aligning the national migration framework with the Convention. Law No. 18 of 2017 on the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers took a comprehensive approach to protection that covered the pre-departure, employment, post-return and reintegration phases. The Government had established the Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection, formerly the Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency, to consolidate fragmented mandates and strengthen institutional coordination and accountability in that area. In doing so, it had clarified roles and improved service delivery, as the Ministry functioned both as a regulator responsible for formulating policy, setting standards and coordinating action and as a provider of direct protection services to migrants and their families. In parallel, budget allocations for migrant worker protection and empowerment programmes had been increased steadily, from 260 billion Indonesian rupiah (Rp) in 2020 to Rp 687 billion in 2025.

The Government had robust, publicly supervised recruitment procedures that used an integrated computerized system for the service and protection of Indonesian migrant workers. In 2025 alone, its efforts to ensure safe, orderly and regular migration had prevented 5,913 persons from attempting to migrate irregularly. The Government prioritized the enhancement of cooperation through bilateral labour agreements. For example, it had entered into a bilateral agreement with Malaysia under which recruitment and employment were to be provided through a single channel (the “one-channel system”) in accordance with the principle of “zero-costs” for job placement.

The national action plan for combating trafficking in persons guided law enforcement and victim support efforts. Since 2024, as part of efforts to counter emerging challenges, including online scams, the cybertrafficking response team had identified and repatriated more than 1,300 cybertrafficking victims from Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos. To address the profound psychological impact of exploitation, the Government was expanding the network of regional psychologists to cover key provinces of origin of migrant workers with a view to ensuring access to community‑based trauma counselling and other psychological support. The Government was seeking to expand its consular notification agreements to ensure that it could provide timely assistance to Indonesian citizens abroad who were in distress, with the target of adding 15 new partners by 2027.

The Government was committed to ensuring dignity and fairness for migrant workers. Data indicating that 82.6 per cent of Indonesian migrant workers seeking assistance were migrants in an irregular situation highlighted the serious problems that such persons encountered – which included unfair treatment, violence, poor working conditions, exploitation and trafficking – and the need for a comprehensive response. While regular migration channels remained essential for ensuring safe migration, the Government ensured that all migrant workers received protection without discrimination and that foreign migrant workers in Indonesia were protected pursuant to national regulations that upheld their rights. It was committed to establishing a comprehensive centralized database that covered all aspects of the Convention with a view to closing critical gaps in available data, particularly by collecting disaggregated data on undocumented migrant workers and their families who had been deported and on unaccompanied migrant children.

The Government was promoting regular migration as a primary means of ensuring migrant safety while also reviewing its approach to irregular migration, including Law No. 6 of 2011 on Immigration. In accordance with the recommendations made in the Committee’s previous concluding observations (CMW/C/IDN/CO/1), it was exploring pathways to ensure that its policies were fully aligned with the human rights-based approach set out in the Convention.

The Government had strengthened its national system for handling complaints from and assisting migrant workers by supporting them around the clock through a group of services provided by regional offices and overseas missions, call centres, the “Safe Travel” application, WhatsApp Messenger channels and other digital service providers. In addition, the official portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Indonesian citizens abroad, Peduli WNI, allowed Indonesians to submit requests for protection and have access to consular services online. By integrating those channels with the Computerized System for the Service and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, the immigration database and the national identification database, the Government had improved case monitoring, data accuracy and response coordination, enabling it to receive, verify and address complaints in a more timely and structured manner. As a result of efforts to ensure access to justice and complaints mechanisms, more than 80 per cent of 20,675 complaints submitted between 2017 and March 2025 had been resolved. The Government was stepping up efforts to systematically evaluate the outcomes of the complaints received, including case resolution and victim satisfaction rates, to demonstrate the complaints system’s effectiveness.

In recent years, ongoing efforts to secure better welfare provision for Indonesian migrant workers abroad had resulted in an increase in the wages paid to Indonesian domestic workers in Chinese Taipei. Indonesia currently held regular bilateral consular consultation forums with six destination countries for Indonesian migrant workers and was strengthening the role of its overseas missions with a view to increasing the provision of rapid-response mechanisms, legal assistance, shelter facilities and monitoring visits and increasing engagement with local authorities and civil society partners. A total of 29 missions currently had an integrated protection system. Missions also verified job orders to fill a vacancy and monitored the fulfilment of the contracts to ensure compliance with protection standards. As part of efforts to prioritize the rights and welfare of children of migrant workers, the Government worked with the local authorities in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia, to ensure access to education, including by facilitating access to residence documentation and teacher permits, providing scholarships and establishing Indonesian schools and community learning centres in areas with high numbers of such children. As of 2025, there were reportedly 275 such centres with 27,197 students in those states. The Government also provided identity verification services, transport assistance, psychosocial support, family counselling and access to economic empowerment programmes to support returning migrant workers and had already assisted hundreds of migrant workers and members of their families by expanding subsidized housing assistance. In recognition that reintegration was a long-term process that called for the provision of continuous support, the Government was currently focusing on measuring the long-term success of reintegration efforts through data on the sustainability of livelihoods and the well-being of returning migrants.

In addition to the need to improve data collection, protection frameworks and impact assessment of policies related to migrant workers, there was also a need for further measures to monitor and prevent violence against women migrant workers and members of their families, especially children, exploitation of migrant workers in destination countries, including under the kafalah system that persisted in some Gulf States, illegal recruitment practices and evolving transnational crimes, including cybertrafficking. Differences in capacity between local governments also continued to adversely affect the provision of migration services. Given that the protection of migrant workers was a shared responsibility between countries of origin, transit and destination, the Government reiterated its call for countries to become Parties to the Convention in greater numbers and to step up international cooperation to address the root causes of migration, such as poverty and inequality.

Ms. Dzumhur (Country Rapporteur) said that, given that the State Party was predominantly a country of origin of migrant workers, she wondered whether there were any indications that it was also becoming a country of transit or destination for such persons. She would welcome more information on the bilateral agreements on migration that were in place between Indonesia and other States, particularly Arab countries. It would be useful to know to which additional international instruments, if any, the State Party had become a party since submitting its previous report. She wished to receive details of the action taken by the State Party to implement the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. She would welcome details of the State Party’s national human rights action plan, if it had such a plan, including information about any provisions related to migration. She wished to know what outcomes had been achieved by the Task Force for the Prevention and Control of Trafficking in Persons. In the light of reports of violations of the rights of migrants working in the fisheries sector, she wondered whether the State Party would adopt comprehensive legislation on migration and take the necessary steps to ensure that such legislation, including Law No. 6 of 2011 on Immigration and Law No. 39 of 2004 on the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Workers Overseas, was in line with the Convention. It would be useful to know whether the State Party envisaged making the declaration under article 76 of the Convention recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider State-to-State communications or the declaration under article 77 of the Convention recognizing the competence of the Committee to receive and consider individual communications.

She wished to know whether the State Party had ratified the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearances, as suggested by the Committee in its previous concluding observations. If not, she would like to know the reasons why. She wondered what measures had been taken to ensure that a gender-responsive and human rights-based approach was integrated into all State strategies and policies related to migrants. It would be useful to receive more information as to why migrants from Indonesia were predominantly female. She wished to know why there was reportedly a lack of proper and effective coordination among stakeholders with respect to the realization of the rights protected under the Migrant Workers Convention and whether such coordination had been improved at all levels of government. She would like to know whether a comprehensive centralized database on migrant workers had been established. It would be helpful to have an update on the status of the national human rights institution, particularly with regard to the representation of women and minority groups. She wondered how effective the national preventive mechanism was and what the outcomes of its work had been.

She wished to know whether the State Party provided systematic education and training on the Convention, particularly to the judiciary and the police, and what role civil society played in such efforts. She wondered what measures the State Party had taken to involve civil society in its activities, whether it held consultations with civil society on an ongoing basis and, if so, how those consultations were progressing. It would be useful to know how the State Party ensured equal access to effective remedies and whether migrants had equal access to justice, irrespective of their status. She wondered what the status of victims of sexual labour exploitation was, what assistance they received and whether there was a legal system in place for assisting such victims. She wished to know how children born abroad who had returned to Indonesia were registered.

Mr. Kariyawasam (Country Rapporteur) said that he would like to receive more information about the State Party’s plans, if any, to enhance cooperation with civil society organizations and national human rights institutions with a view to providing them with more resources and greater leverage to ensure the implementation of the Convention. He wondered whether its consulates had centres for assisting Indonesian migrant workers in difficult situations, particularly in countries that were not Parties to the Convention, and, if so, how those centres operated and whether they employed a gender-sensitive approach. He would like to know what efforts the State Party was making to help the reported 173 Indonesian female migrant workers who were currently facing death sentences, including efforts to obtain pardons for them. He wondered what steps the Government was taking to ensure the portability of social security benefits earned abroad by Indonesian migrant workers, particularly under bilateral agreements. It would be useful to receive more information on measures taken by the State Party to assist Indonesian migrant workers in difficult situations at cyberscamming centres in several Southeast Asian countries and work with entities such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to prevent such situations from arising.

He wished to know what measures the State Party was taking to provide assistance to Rohingya refugees, who were ultimately becoming migrant workers, in line with the Convention. It would be useful to receive more information about the rules and regulations governing recruitment agencies in Indonesia, the measures put in place for monitoring them and the effectiveness of efforts to prevent migrant workers from being trafficked, charged excessive fees or exploited in dangerous or arduous working conditions. He would appreciate more information about the mechanism in place to ensure coordination between government institutions and civil society organizations working to uphold migrant workers’ rights. He wondered how responsibility for all aspects of the migration process was distributed between them. He would like to know what measures the State Party had taken to ensure migrant workers who were mothers and their children could exercise their rights in practice, including the right to birth registration. He would also like to know how the State Party ensured that migrant workers’ rights were realized in a gender-sensitive and non-discriminatory manner, including how it monitored the realization of those rights. He would be interested to know what efforts the State Party was making to ensure that Indonesian migrants working in the fisheries industry, who often did not receive visas for the countries in which they were working, were not left stranded in those countries without rights.

Mr. Ceriani Cernadas said that he wished to know what measures the State Party had taken in response to the recommendation issued by the Committee in its previous concluding observations to bring Law No. 6 of 2011 into line with the Convention, particularly with regard to the non-criminalization of irregular entry or stay and the non-use of prolonged detention during deportation proceedings. He would welcome more information on the guidelines issued in 2024 on procedures for the detention of foreign nationals at immigration detention facilities or other locations, including details on the impact of the guidelines on current practices and statistics on the number of foreign nationals detained at immigration detention facilities and the number of cases where alternatives to detention had been used. He wondered whether it was possible to appeal against final deportation orders issued by the immigration authorities in the courts. It would be useful to know why the data on the more than 20,000 deportations carried out in recent years were not disaggregated by nationality or grounds for deportation. He wished to know whether the State Party intended to become a Party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1967 Protocol thereto and the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).

He wondered whether estimates that between 40 and 47 per cent of Indonesian migrant workers might be in an irregular situation corresponded to the State Party’s own estimates in that regard and what measures it was taking to promote regular migration and to help Indonesian workers in other countries to regularize their situation. He would appreciate additional information about the policies that the State Party had put in place to provide support to the children of Indonesian migrant workers abroad, particularly with respect to access to education. He would like to know whether policies to ensure access to education through overseas Indonesian schools covered all children of Indonesian workers abroad. He wondered what steps the State Party had taken to provide protection against racism and xenophobia for both migrant workers in Indonesia and Indonesian migrant workers abroad, particularly during election campaigns. He would be interested to know what efforts the State Party was making to facilitate the reintegration into society of Indonesian migrant workers who returned to the State Party with a disability, including as a result of working in dangerous conditions abroad.

Mr. Babacar said that he would like to know whether the State Party envisaged ratifying and implementing the ILO Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), and the Protocol of 1995 to the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81). He wondered how many labour inspectors there were in the State Party, how they were distributed throughout the country and what financial or material resources were provided to them to ensure their independence and impartiality. It would be useful to know whether the State Party planned to ratify the ILO Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), and whether it was considering establishing a policy to promote self-employment as a complement to the employment of Indonesian citizens abroad. Given that the majority of Indonesian migrant workers were women working in the domestic work sector, and that such workers were reportedly often victims of abuse and trafficking, he wished to know whether the State Party envisaged ratifying both ILO Convention No. 189 and the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). He would appreciate more information on the extent to which Indonesian migrant workers received social security payments both while they were working and following their return to the State Party or their retirement, and on any bilateral or multilateral agreements in place to ensure the portability of both social security benefits and money earned abroad. It would be useful to know whether the State Party planned to ratify the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) and the Protocol of 2022 thereto.

Mr. Corzo Sosa said that he wished to know what measures the State Party had taken to encourage and safeguard the sending of remittances to the country by Indonesian migrant workers, of whom there were reportedly as many as 9 million, and, given the amount of money sent in remittances, to what extent it encouraged its citizens to become migrant workers. In the light of reports that informal recruitment agencies operating in the State Party frequently engaged in illegal practices with respect to migrant workers, and that more than 60 per cent of such workers might be unaware of the remedies available to them in such situations, he wondered what efforts the State Party made to ensure oversight of such agencies, including through record-keeping, and how migrant workers in such situations could defend themselves. It would be helpful to know what steps the State Party was taking, including in terms of labour inspection, in response to reports that migrant workers in the fisheries and other sectors were being forced to work in conditions akin to contemporary slavery.

He wished to receive more information about the modus operandi of the cybertraffickers who had been trafficking Indonesian citizens abroad, the psychological support that had been provided to repatriated victims and the efforts being made to prevent others from becoming victims of that crime. He wondered what further measures the State Party was envisaging to address the exploitation of Indonesian migrant workers under the kafalah system. It would be interesting to hear whether the State Party was considering using programmes for integration into the labour market as a means of reintegrating returning migrants. He would like to know what efforts the State Party had made to implement the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration and whether it had developed a national plan for that purpose. He would welcome information on the mechanisms in place to monitor and prevent the abuse and exploitation of female migrant workers by the companies that hired them. He would appreciate more information about judicial decisions Nos. 83/PUU-XVII/2019and 127/PUU-XXI/2023 and any other judicial decisions in which the Convention had been invoked.

Mr. Frasheri said that he would like to hear about any challenges, whether internal or external, encountered by the State Party in implementing the Convention. He wondered what assistance the Committee or the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights could provide to the State Party to help it implement the Convention or other human rights instruments.

Ms. Poussi said that she would welcome further details about the wage increase obtained for Indonesian domestic workers in Taiwan Province of China, specifically how the State Party had been involved, what mechanisms had been used and what lessons had been learned and could be applied to obtain similar wage increases for its migrant workers in other countries. She wished to know whether the education budget had indeed been reduced in early 2025 and, if so, whether the State Party was concerned that the decision might push a large number of students to leave the country in search of better education opportunities and, potentially, better working conditions abroad. She also wished to know whether the situation of children of migrant workers who stayed behind while their parents were abroad had been studied and what programmes were in place to support them and mitigate the adverse effects of such separation on their education, health and well-being.

Mr. Taghi-Zada, acknowledging the difficulty in knowing precisely how many Indonesians were abroad and where, said that statistics enabled the authorities to better understand what services were needed, both for migrant workers and for returnees. In that regard, he would be interested in hearing what consular and diplomatic services were available in the countries hosting the largest numbers of the State Party’s citizens, what the staffing levels were and what cooperation there was with those countries’ institutions.

Mr. Ünver asked what challenges, if any, Indonesian migrant workers, especially women domestic workers, still encountered in or upon returning from Saudi Arabia, despite the abolition of the kafalah system.

Mr. Charef said that he would welcome information on the mechanisms that it had set up to implement and monitor the Global Compact. He would also welcome information on the adoption of migration policies that addressed not only migration challenges, but also the involvement of the diaspora in the State Party’s development. He wished to know whether reports that migrant women, especially domestic workers, were subjected to corporal punishment were true and, if so, what steps was the State Party taking, through both public policy and the media, to combat and eliminate stereotypes and discrimination against women migrant workers and their families and what measures were taken to support victims. Bearing in mind the Paris Principles, it would be helpful to know how the members of the National Human Rights Commission were selected, what financial and human resources were allocated to it and to what extent the Government implemented its recommendations with regard to migrant workers.

The Chair said that she would be grateful for further details on the one-channel system and how, specifically, it enhanced the protection of migrants and for an update on the State Party’s plans to ratify the ILO Migration for Employment Convention (Revised), 1949 (No. 97), the ILO Migrant Workers (Supplementary Provisions) Convention, 1975 (No. 143), and ILO Convention No. 189. Noting the State Party’s efforts to enhance protection of its migrant domestic workers abroad, she wondered how many foreign domestic workers were in Indonesia and what safeguards were in place for them. In the context of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence campaign, it would be helpful to learn about the measures that the State Party was taking or envisaging to effectively protect migrant women, in particular women migrant workers, from online violence in general, not only from online scams, the number of such cases and the main challenges it faced in that regard.

The meeting was suspended at 11.50 a.m. and resumed at 12.05 p.m.

A representative of Indonesia said that the system in Indonesia for admitting migrant workers was regulated by the Manpower Law and Government Regulation No. 34 of 2021, under which only foreign workers needed for a specific specialized position that could not be filled by the local workforce were allowed to enter the country. Every employer that recruited a foreign worker was required to have a foreign worker utilization plan and ensure that the technology and knowledge the worker brought was passed on to Indonesian employees. Furthermore, foreign workers were guaranteed equal treatment, must be enrolled in the national social security scheme if working for more than six months and must be employed by a legal entity, not by an individual. As of November 2025, there had been some 175,500 foreign workers legally employed in Indonesia, most in the strategic industrial sector.

As a country of transit, Indonesia implemented humanitarian policies that exceeded its formal obligations. For instance, Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016 formed the legal basis for search and rescue operations and the provision of shelter to refugees, and the principle of non-refoulement was strictly upheld. In addition, Indonesia worked closely with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees on refugee status determination and with the International Organization for Migration on the provision of basic care and had set up a refugee task force to coordinate central and regional responses. As of May 2025, the country had been hosting some 12,000 refugees and asylum-seekers. Lastly, the authorities distinguished between smuggling syndicates and victims of smuggling of migrants, who were not criminalized but, rather, provided with temporary protection prior to their voluntary repatriation or resettlement in a third country.

A representative of Indonesia said that, in the context of the negotiation or review of memorandums of understanding with other countries on the promotion and protection of the rights of Indonesian migrant workers, which was undertaken through a mechanism that engaged the relevant national authorities in both countries, the Government consistently made constructive recommendations, in particular to ensure that the rights and welfare of migrant workers were guaranteed. In the case of Malaysia, the mechanism included an annual consultation at the head-of-State level, a ministerial joint consultation on bilateral cooperation and regular meetings of the various joint technical working groups.

A representative of Indonesia said that there had been two wage increases for Indonesian domestic workers in Chinese Taipei since 2007, for a combined rise of approximately 30%. Formal sector wages in Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, increased almost every year.

A representative of Indonesia said that the National Action Plan on Human Rights 2021–2025 contained actions related to the protection of migrant workers and members of their families, including the fulfilment of children’s basic rights to birth registration, education and health and the prevention and management of cases of child victims of trafficking in persons. It also provided for coordination among ministries and institutions, including at the local level, and for the allocation of resources to work on migration issues. The national committee set up to implement the National Action Plan was led by the Minister for Human Rights and consisted of the Ministers of Home Affairs, Social Affairs, Foreign Affairs and National Development Planning. Work was under way on the new National Action Plan, to cover the period 2026–2030, with a focus on specific strategic targets relating to migrant workers, including international cooperation for the protection of migrant workers and their families, access to cheap and secure means of sending remittances, the provision of decent working and living conditions and identification documents.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Domestic Workers Protection Bill to which the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Commission on Violence against Women had contributed, had been included in the 2025 priority national legislative programme and was awaiting deliberation by the House of Representatives. As strengthening the legal framework for domestic workers had significant implications for gender equality and the protection of vulnerable groups, the Government placed high priority on ensuring that the Bill provided comprehensive protection and aligned with international labour and human rights standards.

A representative of Indonesia said that Indonesia had ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and two of the protocols thereto, namely the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, and had adopted the framework necessary to support their implementation. The framework included Law No. 21 of 2007 on the eradication of human trafficking, which contained a clear definition of trafficking, regulated various forms of exploitation, established several criminal penalties for perpetrators and guaranteed protection and rehabilitation for victims, Law No. 6 of 2011 on immigration and the Task Force for the Eradication of Human Trafficking.

Under the National Action Plan for Combatting Trafficking in Persons, coordination had been stepped up between the various ministries, institutions and local governments, over 30 provincial task forces had been established and the prevention efforts had been extended to the village level. In addition, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections had denied departure authorizations for nearly 49,000 migrant workers and had postponed the issuance of almost 8,500 passports. From 2022 to 2024, the Indonesian National Police had received some 1,900 reports of trafficking in persons; most of the cases had been prosecuted, although some remained pending. Most cases referred to the Supreme Court had been admitted. The Witness and Victim Protection Agency had provided protection services to more than 1,400 witnesses of trafficking in persons.

The presidential decree adopting the new national action plan, which would cover the period 2025–2029, was being drafted, and the Government would continue to improve the capacity of law enforcement, training for immigration officers and the application of modern technology to effectively monitor and combat trafficking in persons and people smuggling.

A representative of Indonesia said that Law No. 6 of 2011 would be revised in 2026 to enhance the functions of the Indonesian travel document so that it could serve as proof of identity and citizenship, to authorize the granting of the travel document in lieu of a passport only in specific circumstances, to extend the validity of the travel document issued in lieu of a passport for a maximum of two years and to provide a legal basis for the use of the travel document in lieu of a passport as a repatriation document for Indonesian citizens whose passports had been revoked. The re-entry permit for holders of permanent stay permits was valid for the duration of the permanent stay permit.

Efforts to promote decriminalization and alternatives to detention were based on the distinction between main perpetrators, such as smugglers, facilitators and other parties who actively organized or profited from illegal border crossings, and victims and vulnerable groups, including trafficked migrant workers, victims of mass deportation and individuals unaware of proper procedures. The criminal provisions of Law No. 6 of 2011 did not apply to victims of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.

A representative of Indonesia said that, pursuant to article 85 of Law No. 6 of 2011, persons subject to expulsion were held at an immigration detention centre until their deportation, for up to 10 years. It was an administrative, not a criminal, measure, and its length was due to the complexity of deportation procedures and the difficulty in verifying identities and travel documents. There were currently 17 detainees who had been held for the full period, some of whom were individuals whose asylum applications had been denied. Persons in such detention were provided with the best possible conditions and enjoyed their fundamental rights, including the rights to humane treatment, access to healthcare and adequate food and communication with family, legal counsel and State officials. Moreover, steps were taken to separate members of vulnerable groups, such as women and children. Decisions imposing an immigration administrative measure could be challenged before the Director General for Immigration.

A representative of Indonesia said that the fact that there was visa-free entry among ASEAN member States complicated the management of irregular migration. Stepping up prevention efforts remained central to ensuring safe and orderly migration pathways for Indonesian migrant workers. In that regard, Indonesia had developed a comprehensive map of the land, sea and air routes most frequently used by trafficking and smuggling networks to serve as the operational basis for joint patrols and multi-agency operations in the field. Integrated preventive action at the national and regional levels had yielded significant measurable results. For example, between 1 January and 6 November 2025, Indonesia had prevented some 5,900 attempted irregular departures, most of which had been recorded in the Banten area of Java, Riau and Kalimantan, illustrating that irregular migration pressure remained high in regions adjacent to major transit points and international borders.

In addition, the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections had strengthened upstream controls through the establishment of nearly 240 “productive migrant villages” that functioned as community-level hubs for safe migration, education and early detection of potential irregular departures. Some 130 migration information and mobility service points had been established across immigration offices to provide front-line services and reinforce document verification. Those measures were further supported by surveillance conducted in cooperation with the border authorities, the military and local governments. Furthermore, administrative and judicial measures, including the suspension of operations and revocation of permits, were taken against entities involved in facilitating irregular departures. Lastly, the Ministry had carried out a detailed analysis of illegal placement patterns, which had become an operational tool to target networks more effectively.

A representative of Indonesia said that the recruitment and placement of Indonesian migrant workers followed a regulated process to ensure that every candidate met the administrative, legal, qualification and health requirements. The process began with the candidate’s registration in the Computerized System for the Service and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and consisted of document verification, selection and pre‑departure orientation. Under the government-to-government scheme, recruitment was carried out directly by the Government, in cooperation with its counterpart in destination countries. Under the more flexible private-to-private scheme, licensed placement companies or recruitment agencies could deploy workers to a number of destination countries, including in both the domestic work and business sectors. The number of licensed placement companies or recruitment agencies – over 500 – was a challenge, but capacity-building was being conducted in cooperation with ILO.

A representative of Indonesia said that the high proportion of women among Indonesian migrant workers, particularly in the domestic work sector, was rooted in a long‑standing historical pattern and sociocultural tradition. Moreover, Indonesian women, particularly those employed as domestic workers, were recognized in the global labour market for their diligence, resilience and strong work ethic. For those reasons, women remained the predominant group within the Indonesian diaspora. Accordingly, various gender-sensitive policies were being introduced – mandatory pre-departure training and counselling tailored to women’s needs, stronger bilateral agreements incorporating gender‑based protection clauses, improved complaint and shelter mechanisms abroad and a skill development programme – to ensure the protection and empowerment of women migrant workers. The skilled employment pathway for women had been expanded, including for positions in the healthcare sector.

A representative of Indonesia said that, to address the specific vulnerabilities faced by women migrant workers, the Government had strengthened measures at every stage of the migration process. At the pre-departure stage, the curriculum for the mandatory orientation programme had been standardized to include robust gender-responsive content, including information on workplace conditions, social norms in destination countries, safety measures and prevention of violence and exploitation. To improve access to information and timely assistance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), had launched SARI, a woman-friendly, artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot integrated into the Safe Travel application that provided accurate, bias-free responses on migrant worker rights, protection services and gender-sensitive issues, complementing in-person consular services.

In addition, Indonesia had expanded gender-responsive support services, both domestically and abroad, through collaborations with the Ministry of Manpower, trade unions and women’s crisis centres. Migrant resource centres provided non-administrative services, including case management, legal assistance, psychosocial support and referrals, for prospective and returning women migrant workers and their families, with special attention to survivors of violence, harassment and trafficking. At the policy and legal levels, amendments had been made to introduce stronger guarantees for women and other vulnerable groups, including access to special support services, expanded rights for victims and recognition of gender-related vulnerabilities.

A representative of Indonesia said that, under Presidential Regulation No. 53 of 2021, the Government was required to issue birth registration documents to Indonesians living abroad. The requisite services were provided through an interoperable online platform integrated with the national civil registry and the population database administered by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Embassies and consulates of Indonesia were required to complete the registration process within three working days of receipt of complete supporting documents; all relevant services were free of charge. From January to November 2025, Indonesian missions had issued some 12,500 overseas birth registration documents.

At the national level, the Government continued to promote birth registration and certification for children requiring special protection through a child-friendly system designed to accelerate the issuance of birth certificates and child identity cards. The Ministry of Home Affairs, working with local civil registry offices and relevant stakeholders, including social services, collected data on families living in poverty or in remote communities, which helped to conduct targeted outreach and ensure that all children enjoyed their right to civil documentation.

A representative of Indonesia said that, as a Party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Indonesia was fully committed to granting access to education to all children, including those of migrant workers abroad. That commitment was realized through two main channels, namely schools following the Indonesian national curriculum, which were operating in 15 countries under the auspices of the country’s embassies, and community learning centres that offered formal instruction following the Indonesian curricula for the elementary through upper secondary levels. As of 2024, 275 community learning centres in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia, had been serving more than 27,000 students, and the Government was actively advocating for the establishment of new such centres in Peninsular Malaysia, where 78 currently served some 2,300 students. To ensure legal recognition of educational attainment, the Government held national equivalency exams, leading to the issuance of diplomas fully recognized in Indonesia.

A systematic approach was taken to the protection of the children of migrant workers, beginning with pre-departure orientation, in which migrant workers were advised to refrain from bringing family members not listed in their employment contracts. In addition, an integrated monitoring system tracked migrant workers and their families from the pre‑departure stage to their returns. Children could be placed with extended family or certified foster families supported by social programmes, such as the Family Hope Programme and scholarships, and their well-being was regularly monitored by social workers or community-based units. Psychosocial support and awareness training was also available for caregivers.

A representative of Indonesia said that the efforts to strengthen the protection of migrant workers and their families, especially children who remained in Indonesia, included the Pandu Programme, which focused on empowering village government, community groups and caregivers to build strong family resilience and reduce the risks faced by children of migrant workers through parenting support, community monitoring and motivational activities for children aged 9 to 14 years. The pilot in Lampung was yielding positive outcomes and might be replicated in other migrant-sending regions.

The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m.