Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All

Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families

Forty-first session

Summary record of the 613th meeting

Held at the Palais Wilson, Geneva, on Wednesday, 3 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 (continued)

The meeting was called to order at 10 a.m.

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

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

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

The Chair, on behalf of all the members of the Committee, expressed sympathy to the Government of Indonesia in connection with the recent floods in the country.

A representative of Indonesia, responding to questions raised at the previous meeting (CMW/C/SR.6.11), said that the Convention and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration were complementary and mutually reinforcing instruments. The Global Compact, which provided a comprehensive platform for cooperation on migration governance and data collection, labour mobility, development linkages and international partnerships, acted as a road map for the advancement of the principles enshrined in the Convention. Indonesia, which was one of the 33 champion countries leading the implementation of the Global Compact, had aligned its national development priorities, particularly as established in the country’s eight-point national development agenda, Asta Cita, with the Global Compact’s objectives.

The Government was currently developing a national action plan that would integrate the Global Compact’s objectives into existing development strategies and sectoral policies. The plan would cover the full migration cycle. To assist migrant workers at the pre-departure stage, it would strengthen safe recruitment and identity verification processes, improve training and the availability of data on labour markets and harness the benefits of integrated service centres and digital contract tracking systems. To assist them at the placement stage, it would further strengthen consular services and related mechanisms, expand community protection networks and deepen cooperation with host countries and employers, including through improved bilateral labour agreements. Lastly, to assist them at the return and reintegration stage – which was no less important than the other stages – it would provide more structured support, including in the form of skills recognition and job matching assistance, entrepreneurship programmes and community-based reintegration initiatives led by local governments. To address one of the greatest challenges to such efforts, the Government had been working to strengthen data governance, in line with objective 1 of the Global Compact – Collect and utilize accurate and disaggregated data as a basis for evidence -based policies – by building on the national migration data system. The plan was being developed with the participation of civil society organizations, academia, employers’ groups, financial institutions and migrant communities. The Government would report on the progress made with the plan and seek solutions to remaining challenges at the second International Migration Review Forum in 2026.

A representative of Indonesia said that the rise of online job scams and cybertrafficking in Asia was a deeply distressing development that required an urgent response. Thousands of Indonesian citizens, many of them young people, had been deceived and trapped in conditions of forced labour. The Government strongly called for broader international cooperation to suppress that rapidly expanding transnational crime, which had resulted in a humanitarian crisis. As part of its own efforts, Indonesia had intensified cross-border law enforcement cooperation and collaboration with international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It had also prosecuted domestic recruiters linked with syndicates in Cambodia and Myanmar. The protection and repatriation of Indonesian citizens was a top priority. Since 2020, the number of cases handled by the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh had risen sharply, with more than 80 per cent of the total as of September 2025 linked to online scam compounds. In 2025, the Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection had handled 282 cases involving Indonesian citizens in Cambodia, including cases of suspected trafficking in persons, illegal recruitment, breach of contract and unexplained deaths. That escalation reflected the dramatic rise in arrivals of Indonesian citizens in that country, from 14,564 in 2020 to 166,795 in 2024. A total of 131,184 Indonesian citizens had held long‑term visas for Cambodia that year, while, as of August 2025, a total of 102,150 Indonesian citizens were still living in that country. Many Indonesian citizens had entered Cambodia as short‑term visitors with the aim of subsequently obtaining permits to remain for longer periods. It was thought that many of the estimated 87,000 Indonesian citizens who currently held work permits in Cambodia were trapped in centres running illegal digital operations. Such persons had reportedly been obliged to work for between 12 and 16 hours per day and had subjected to confiscation of their passports, coercion, restrictions on their movement and physical violence. Many believed that the disturbing increase in the number of deaths of Indonesian citizens in Cambodia, which had risen from 1 in 2020 to 110 as of October 2025, was linked to exploitative and dangerous working conditions. Indonesia had stepped up its efforts to prevent such exploitation and detect it at an early stage, including by conducting awareness-raising campaigns, increasing oversight of irregular migration routes and, in collaboration with national cybercrime authorities and digital platforms, enhancing efforts to monitor and disrupt online recruitment channels, which primarily operated by posting fake job adverts on social media.

The Government continued to face legal and operational challenges in countries of destination. It was working to ensure that the 106 Indonesian citizens who had been detained in Phnom Penh in November 2025 as cybercriminals were recognized as victims. Strict post-repatriation screening was used to identify the small number of Indonesian citizens who had knowingly joined syndicates, including 1 of the 26 Indonesian citizens repatriated from Myanmar in October 2025, who had been identified as a recruiter and was now under investigation. The Government remained committed to protecting victims of such exploitation, ensuring that perpetrators were held accountable and clarifying the legal distinction between victims and perpetrators in such situations.

A representative of Indonesia said that the trend of recruiting Indonesian nationals for online scams, which had emerged in 2021 and showed signs of trafficking in persons, had since escalated and spread to several other Southeast Asian countries. Between 2021 and September 2025, Indonesian missions in 10 countries had handled a total of 12,565 cases related to online scams, the majority of which had been recorded in Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, with 7,623, 1,919 and 1,201 cases respectively; there had also been cases outside Asia, 52 of which had been in Belarus and 7 in South Africa. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had sent six technical assistance teams to Cambodia to support the Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh in handling the cases recorded there. Between August and December 2022, 422 Indonesian migrant workers had been repatriated from Cambodia in 11 waves at the State’s expense. Efforts to address such cases in Cambodia that year had cost at least 6 billion Indonesian rupiah. The Government cooperated closely with the local authorities in Cambodia and Myanmar in the repatriation of Indonesian nationals.

A representative of Indonesia said that, as part of ongoing efforts to combat such scams, the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs had set up a website for checking and reporting bank accounts that were believed to be used in fraudulent practices.

A representative of Indonesia said that Law No. 18 of 2017 on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers had enhanced Indonesian migrant workers’ access to justice by ensuring their right to legal protection throughout the migration process. Under the Law, the Government must ensure that work contracts were clear and provide accessible complaints channels, legal assistance and mediation services both in Indonesia and through its representatives abroad. The Law also ensured that migrant workers could pursue remedies for unpaid wages, abuse and other violations of their rights through administrative, civil or criminal proceedings with the support of an integrated service. The right of every citizen to receive protection and assistance, including passport and visa services, from Indonesian representatives abroad was established in the law on ratification of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations and ensured by the Directorate of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which also delivered notifications to foreign missions in Indonesia and facilitated communication with the relevant authorities in cases where foreign nationals had died or been detained. The right to obtain consular assistance was also established in article 21 (1) of Law No. 8 of 2017, which protected rights related to employment and to mediation, advocacy and legal assistance provided by the Government or foreign missions. The Government had also established close bilateral cooperation through regular consular consultation meetings with eight countries, six of which were major destinations for Indonesian migrant workers.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Ministry of Human Rights had established a human rights complaints service that included 33 complaint posts in its regional offices and collaborated with other bodies, such as churches and traditional institutions. Between 2020 and 2024, it had received approximately 4,600 complaints either online or through the complaint posts, 11 of which had related to migrant workers’ rights. The Ministry followed up on such complaints with relevant stakeholders, including ministries, the police and local governments.

A representative of Indonesia said that, to maintain the public’s trust in the State, the Government ensured that the complaints were handled swiftly and transparently and the mechanism was accessible through both in-person services and other channels. Within a day of receiving complaints, officials conducted an initial assessment and issued complainants with a unique number and link for tracking the progress of their complaint to ensure that they felt supported. Complainants who had not provided all of the required documentation were given 30 days to do so and received regular reminders. The Government addressed complaints in a variety of ways, including by providing consultation on legal and labour‑related matters and assistance with social security applications and insurance claims. It continued to provide legal assistance in cases where there were indications that a criminal act had taken place, the complaint could not be resolved through non-legal channels or the complainant wished to pursue legal proceedings. Mechanisms were in place to ensure that each case was handled by the appropriate institution. Once processed, cases were formally closed with comprehensive documentation. All services were available to migrant workers irrespective of their migration status, as confirmed by the fact that 82.6% of recipients of assistance had been in an irregular situation. To ensure that issues were addressed systematically and did not recur, the complaints mechanism was interconnected with the broader monitoring and enforcement system.

A representative of Indonesia said that, Indonesian diplomatic missions provided various avenues for submitting complaints, including helplines, email contacts and an online portal. The results of a satisfaction survey were collected on a daily basis and evaluated by the Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad.

A representative of Indonesia said that the collection of accurate data on Indonesian migrant workers in an irregular situation remained a structural challenge; it was difficult to collect data on irregular departure from the country, which often involved the use of unmonitored departure points, and data on work visas, residency permits and employment status was under the jurisdiction of countries of destination. Even aggregated data were not consistently published or shared by all countries. The accuracy of data collection was therefore highly dependent on the strength of bilateral cooperation and the willingness of destination countries to exchange information in a safe and structured manner. The Government had stepped up its efforts in that area by issuing Ministerial Regulation No. 27 of 8 October 2025, which it would begin implementing in 2026 with a pilot project in Malaysia. The Regulation established a mechanism for the collection of data on Indonesian migrant workers abroad that was fully integrated with the Computerized System for the Service and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and enabled migrant workers, including those in an irregular situation, to register their identity, upload supporting documents and undergo verification by the relevant Indonesian mission and the authorities in their area of origin. Although registration would not change migrant workers’ immigration status in the host country, it would enable them to obtain access to essential protection services, legal assistance, emergency repatriation services and reintegration programmes after returning to Indonesia.

The effectiveness of such processes was limited by the extent to which migrant workers were able to present valid documentation. To reach migrant workers in vulnerable situations, the Government had empowered missions to conduct outreach visits to communities of migrant workers and expand access to information services through a citizens’ services unit. To determine the possible scale of irregular migration, the Government had used measurable indicators, such as the number of irregular departures prevented by the Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection, the Coordinating Ministry of Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections and law enforcement agencies and the number of deportations from countries of destination. Such figures helped the Government to map high-risk migration corridors and migration patterns for targeted interventions.

A representative of Indonesia said that, in October 2025, the Government had launched a pre-employment orientation initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of village authorities, which served as the closest link with prospective migrant workers and, under Law No. 18 of 2017, played a pivotal role in migration governance, including by verifying migrant data, facilitating the provision of civil documentation, monitoring departures and returns and supporting the empowerment of migrant workers and members of their families. Under the initiative, which already covered 15 regencies, including 684 villages, village authorities were becoming key actors in the dissemination of information about safe migration procedures. The Government’s approach was aligned with the framework promoted by international partners such as IOM, which covered orientation for the pre‑employment, pre-departure, post-arrival and pre-return stages. Thus far, the pre‑employment component had been delivered in collaboration with IOM, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union.

Under the Desa Migran Emas (Golden Migrant Village) programme, village authorities were empowered to serve as front-line providers of safe migration information, offering verified job opportunities, guidance on required documentation and awareness‑raising on the risks associated with irregular recruitment. The programme included the operation of referral and grievance mechanisms in relation to the pre-departure phase. The Government was committed to developing new regulations that would establish a more systematic evaluation mechanism for pre-departure training, including assessment tools based on measurable criteria, strengthened qualifications for instructors, enhanced monitoring and a more effective follow-up mechanism. It also planned to expand digital outreach efforts and deepen collaboration with village authorities under the programme to ensure that accurate information reached even the remotest communities.

A representative of Indonesia said that Indonesian diplomatic missions, acting as first responders, provided immediate consular assistance to Indonesian migrant workers whenever they were accused of violating a host country’s local laws and worked with the competent authorities to ensure that their rights were upheld. The missions handled the cases, without assuming whether the person was guilty or not, in accordance with the host country’s legal framework and international law. The missions endeavoured to provide vulnerable groups, including women and children, with access to shelters when required, including shelters operated by the local authorities and shelters operated by missions themselves, which were available in 19 locations. A ministerial decree issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in September 2023 set out comprehensive shelter management guidelines, including with regard to training standards and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms, to ensure uniform and accountable service delivery and address overcrowding, poor conditions and understaffing, which were in part the result of underfunding. As at 13 November 2025, there were a total of 385 Indonesian migrant workers – 371 women and 14 children – using the shelters. Most were in the shelters in Riyadh, which had 75 occupants, and Kuala Lumpur, which had 56 occupants.

In 2025, integrated protection missions had been established in 29 locations. Those missions had received that designation pursuant to a ministerial decree issued by the Minister for Foreign Affairs in January 2025 on the basis of the volume of cases involving Indonesian nationals that they handled and the extent of the consular services provided in the countries in question. Another ministerial decree issued that year set out procedures for establishing integrated protection task forces with responsibility for ensuring that the system complied fully with the specified standards. Capacity-building for consular officers and other staff providing services and protection was carried out centrally by the Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Legal Entities Abroad. Training was provided to consular officers at the pre-deployment stage, periodically during service abroad and as part of the diplomatic training programme in cooperation with the centre for education and training of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and covered cases involving Indonesian nationals in distress and trafficking in persons, shelter management, the use of mechanisms for verifying self-reported information, issuing civil registration documents, digital identity management and passport processing, and the operation of helplines.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Government strongly condemned xenophobia, racism and all forms of discrimination faced by foreign nationals in Indonesia and Indonesian nationals abroad and prioritized efforts to ensure their protection and access to justice. As a State Party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Indonesia had a strong legal framework for preventing and addressing racial and ethnic discrimination. Law No. 40 of 2008 on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination clearly defined prohibited conduct, and foreign workers enjoyed further protection under Government Regulation No. 34 of 2021. Although, as in other diverse societies, isolated incidents of discriminatory behaviour could occasionally occur in Indonesia, the available data did not indicate that there was any broad or systematic pattern of xenophobia or violence directed against foreign migrant workers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs used resources, including the official portal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Indonesian citizens abroad, Peduli WNI, and the consular network to provide timely assistance, including the facilitation of legal and humanitarian support, to Indonesian migrant workers and coordinated responses with host countries when concerns arose.

A representative of Indonesia said that the rights of migrant workers with disabilities were protected under Law No. 18 of 2017, Presidential Regulation No. 130 of 2024 and Law No. 8 of 2016 on persons with disabilities. The Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection provided migrant workers with disabilities with access to rehabilitation and reintegration assistance upon their return to Indonesia, including mental healthcare and assistive technology. The Ministry allocated 5 per cent of the budget for shelters to improving their accessibility and ensured that all staff completed disability and inclusiveness training. Under Ministry of Manpower Regulation No. 4 of 2023, Indonesian migrant workers who suffered work-related accidents in their host country and their families were entitled to benefits.

A representative of Indonesia said that, to strengthen and expand protection for migrant workers and their families, the Government collaborated with various civil society organizations and other social partners, including IOM and the United Nations Children’s Fund. Many community-based organizations played an important role in assisting migrant workers in resolving complaints by helping them to complete documents and supporting them in mediation efforts. The national human rights institutions provided complaints mechanisms that complemented the mechanism provided by the Government, in addition to monitoring compliance with human rights standards and issuing recommendations to relevant institutions.

The National Human Rights Commission, which had formerly consisted of seven commissioners, including one woman, now consisted of eight commissioners, three of whom were women. It had also previously included one commissioner with disabilities, who had resigned for personal reasons. Such progress reflected the continuing efforts made to enhance diversity, in line with the Committee’s previous recommendations (CMW/C/IDN/CO/1). The Government was taking steps to ensure that the institution maintained its A status by ensuring that its commissioners were appointed in accordance with a transparent and merit-based procedure and strengthening the independence and effectiveness of the institution in accordance with the Paris Principles.

Indonesia had developed a system for the prevention of torture and ill-treatment that incorporated many of the core principles of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The system functioned through the Joint Cooperation Team for the Prevention of Torture, a coordinated, independent mechanism that resembled a national preventive mechanism in structure and function. The Team had worked closely with government institutions, particularly through formal cooperation agreements with the Directorate General of Corrections and the Directorate General of Immigration. Between 2019 and 2024, the Team had visited five correctional facilities in Papua, three correctional facilities in South Sulawesi and the Kupang Immigration Detention Centre in East Nusa Tenggara. In 2022, the National Commission on the Elimination of Violence against Women had monitored the placement of Indonesian female migrant workers at five overseas training centres.

A representative of Indonesia said that the National Strategy on Business and Human Rights, which was aligned with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, was focused on ensuring that the State and businesses fulfilled their responsibilities to protect human rights and that individuals had access to effective remedies. It included measures to improve regulations, raise awareness among public and private stakeholders and strengthen grievance mechanisms. As of 2024, the majority of ministries and local government agencies had participated in the reporting cycle. A number of ministries had conducted awareness-raising and training activities on business and human rights, including the rights of women, children and persons with disabilities, for governmental bodies, State‑owned, village-owned and privately-owned enterprises, including small and medium‑sized enterprises, local communities and high school and university students. The Coordinating Ministry of Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections had distributed guidelines on the implementation of the Business and Human Rights Risk Assessment Application – which approximately 390 companies had used thus far – to 38 provinces and 70 ministries and institutions, as well as relevant non-governmental partners. The Government had developed draft regulations on business and human rights and had established a road map for the ongoing implementation of the national human rights due diligence policy, which envisaged piloting and mentoring stages prior to ultimate implementation by businesses in the period 2028–2029. The Witness and Victim Protection Agency had developed and disseminated guidelines on rehabilitation that emphasized the importance of providing psychological assistance to victims of crime, including crimes involving business-related human rights abuses.

A representative of Indonesia said that, at the national level, efforts to protect migrant workers were based on close cooperation between the Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, immigration and law enforcement bodies and local government agencies. The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections played a critical front-line role by preventing irregular departure through document verification, risk pattern detection and inter-agency coordination of data on departures. Inter-agency coordination also underpinned the country’s various bilateral agreements with countries of destination, such as the government-to-government programme agreed on with the Republic of Korea, the healthcare and specified skilled workers scheme agreed on with Japan, the protection framework agreed on with Saudi Arabia and the arrangement on domestic workers agreed on with Malaysia, which established clear standards for protection, including standardized contracts, clarity on wages and working hours, communication rights and accessible grievance and dispute resolution mechanisms. Indonesian missions in countries of destination provided protection services in close coordination with the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections and other Indonesian institutions. The Ministry of Migrant Workers’ Protection functioned as the national authority responsible for developing regulation and overseeing overall policy implementation. Operational execution was delegated to regional offices, which were responsible for ensuring consistent application of national standards. The Ministry worked in direct coordination with local governments to coherently link national policymaking with local service delivery by ensuring migrant registration, preventing irregular migration, facilitating pre-departure preparation and managing the return and reintegration process.

A representative of Indonesia said that the process for ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance was ongoing. Indonesia already had mechanisms for receiving individual complaints through its national human rights institutions, including the National Human Rights Commission and its national commissions for the protection of women, children and persons with disabilities, and through the Ministry of Human Rights.

A representative of Indonesia said that labour inspection was regulated by Law No. 3 of 1951 on labour inspection and Law No. 13 of 2003 on employment. The range of labour standards to be monitored under those laws covered contracts and wages, working hours, safety standards and social protection. Indonesia had also ratified the ILO Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), with a view to further strengthening its legal framework for labour inspection, under which inspectors could visit workplaces, issue corrective measures and enforce compliance. Law No. 23 of 2014 on regional government required provincial governments to carry out labour inspections, thereby making it possible to respond more quickly to complaints and enforce the law more consistently across the country. A total of 1,398 labour inspectors were currently employed across Indonesia, 130 of whom were based at the Ministry of Manpower, where they set standards, coordinated inspection programmes, guided provincial offices and handled cases that required central oversight or technical expertise, and 1,268 of whom operated within provincial governments.

The Government was currently conducting an internal assessment to ensure that it had the necessary legal framework, institutions and resources in place before taking on additional treaty obligations under the ILO Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129). Nonetheless, labour inspection was already carried out across all sectors, including agriculture. Existing laws enabled inspectors to monitor compliance, provide guidance and address violations in plantations, agricultural smallholdings and informal rural workplaces. The Government was also enhancing inspection capacity through additional training, improving digital reporting tools and strengthening coordination between the Ministry of Manpower and regional labour offices.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Government supported integrating the principles of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), into a bill for the protection of domestic workers that would establish decent wages, reasonable working and rest hours, paid leave and safeguards against discrimination, sexual violence and other forms of abuse and ensure compliance with occupational safety and health standards.

The Government prioritized preventive and responsive action to address violence and harassment in the workplace through a coordinated, cross-sectoral approach that involved labour authorities, health services, law enforcement and social support institutions and, in practice, satisfied many of the substantive requirements of the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention, 2019 (No. 190). Law No. 12 of 2022 on sexual violence crimes established a comprehensive legal framework for preventing sexual violence, protecting victims, facilitating access to justice and rehabilitation and ensuring that perpetrators were duly prosecuted. Minister of Manpower Decree No. 88 of 2023 set out guidelines for preventing and addressing sexual violence in the workplace that required employers to establish relevant preventive measures and internal policies, ensure confidential reporting channels and provide support services and safeguards against retaliation. Victims were guaranteed access to medical care, psychological support and assistance throughout the reporting and survivor recovery process. Government Regulations No. 30 of 2025 on preventing, addressing and ensuring the protection and recovery of victims of sexual violence and No. 27 of 2024 on coordinating and monitoring the prevention of sexual violence and the protection of victims complemented those measures.

A representative of Indonesia said that existing regulations ensured that workplaces met stringent safety standards. The Government was conducting a comprehensive assessment before it could formally consider ratifying the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), as it believed that it was necessary to ensure regulatory and institutional readiness beforehand. Ratification would also require an adequate budget allocation and policy harmonization among government, employers and trade unions.

Mr. Kariyawasam (Country Rapporteur), noting that establishing new regulations and institutions sometimes created confusion for stakeholders, said that he would welcome further details about Law No. 18 of 2017 on the protection of Indonesian migrant workers, in particular the timeline and methodology for its revision and the intention to align it with the Convention, the effectiveness of the one-stop integrated service centres, the transition from the Ministry of Manpower to the new Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, the impact of and any planned changes to the relevant government regulations on migrant seafarers and fishers, and plans to address the potential loopholes for recruitment agencies arising from the fact migrant seafarers and fishers came under the remit of both the Ministry for the Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers and the Ministry of Transport.

He wondered to what extent the one-stop integrated service centres were digitalized and whether and how the State Party was integrating artificial intelligence into its digitalization process to both improve service delivery for migrant workers and prevent ill‑intentioned actors from cheating or misusing the system. In addition to the assistance centres and shelters that had been set up in various countries, he wished to hear more about the State Party’s efforts to protect domestic workers and workers in the entertainment industry through legal mechanisms and cooperation with destination countries. It would be helpful to know how the law granting Indonesian migrant workers the right to vote from their destination country was being operationalized and whether the State Party intended to also allow migrant workers to stand in elections from abroad.

Lastly, he wished to know how many Rohingya refugees were in the State Party, whether pathways to regularization and employment had been created for them or whether they remained under the sole protection of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Ms. Dzumhur (Country Rapporteur) said that she would like to know how the State Party was ensuring the protection of the large amount of personal data collected through digital procedures, especially in the light of the high involvement of the private sector in the recruitment of migrants. In that regard, she wondered whether the State Party intended to reduce the involvement of private actors in the migration process, which would be important from a human rights perspective.

She would welcome further information about the work of the national human rights institution in the area of migration and the level of access to the institution by Indonesian migrant workers living abroad. She hoped that the member of the institution who had resigned for personal reasons would be replaced by another person with disabilities. She would also welcome more details about the shelter services provided by the State Party’s diplomatic missions, specifically their operations and the extent of their use by Indonesian migrant workers in practice.

Noting that civil society organizations should be seen as more than service providers, she wished to know the extent to which such organizations were involved in policymaking in the area of migration and in the coordination of the response to trafficking in persons. Given that having a statute of limitations for trafficking in persons sent the wrong message to victims and emboldened traffickers, she wished to know what plans the State Party had to increase the prosecution of the offence.

She would encourage the State Party to further its efforts to remove administrative barriers to and coordinate the registration of children born to Indonesian migrant workers abroad.

Mr. Babacar said that he would welcome information on whether labour inspectors enjoyed the special status referred to in ILO Convention No. 81 and would urge the State Party to ratify ILO Convention Nos. 189 and 190 given that most Indonesian migrant workers were women. He would also welcome a reply as to whether the State Party had entered into agreements regarding social security with the destination countries of Indonesian migrant workers.

Mr. Corzo Sosa said that he wished to reiterate the recommendation made by both the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights during their reviews of the State Party in 2024 that it should adopt a stand-alone anti‑discrimination law. In that regard, he would welcome data on complaints of discrimination lodged with the national human rights institution or the courts, as well as the delegation’s comments on the barriers to access to employment, education and healthcare and the acts of hate speech and racism reportedly faced by Rohingya refugees. The delegation was also invited to comment on the State Party’s position with regard to the recommendation of the Subcommittee on Accreditation of the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions concerning the need for stable and uniform criteria for the appointment and dismissal of members of the national human rights institution.

He was interested in hearing about the outcome of the complaint submitted by a group of young people to the national human rights institution that the Government was evading its responsibilities with regard to climate change and about the State Party’s efforts in that domain, especially to shield migrants from its effects. Lastly, he invited the State Party to reflect further on the complementary nature of international complaint mechanisms with a view to making the declarations under articles 76 and 77 of the Convention and thus providing additional protection for victims of rights violations.

Mr. Ceriani Cernadas said that he was interested in learning more about the application of Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016, specifically the type and conditions of facilities where asylum-seekers were held, the proportion of asylum-seekers who were detained, the duration of their detention and the lag between detention and access to the various programmes provided for in the Regulation. He wished to know the status of the initiatives to bring Law No. 6 of 2011 on immigration into line with the Convention, in particular with regard to the penalty of up to 10 years’ imprisonment in the context of expulsion procedures. Recalling that the Committee, some special procedures and other bodies had been raising concerns about the migration control policies of Australia for several years, he would like to hear about any migration-related provisions of the security cooperation agreement that the State Party had recently signed with that country. In a similar vein, information on any action taken by the State Party under the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime would be welcome, as would data on measures taken to ensure that countries of destination of Indonesian migrant workers, in particular Malaysia, facilitated the regularization of their status and that of their families to minimize the risk of mass deportation. Lastly, he wondered how the State Party was taking into account the high rates of emigration, especially of irregular migration, in its development policies.

Mr. Charef, noting that the State Party was the first country to move its capital owing to climate-related environmental degradation,asked what action, if any, it was taking to tackle the issue of climate refugees, specifically by achieving the recognition of that status at the global level.

Mr. Oumaria, noting the importance of assessing initiatives, said that the Committee would look forward to reading about the effectiveness of the consulate-based complaint mechanism and cooperation with employers in preventing abuses in the State Party’s next periodic report. He wished to know how long migrant workers remained in the shelters and whether the purpose was to provide protection while a complaint against their employer was being processed or while their return to Indonesia was being organized.

The meeting was suspended at 12.15 p.m. and resumed at 12.35 p.m.

A representative of Indonesia said that, in line with the foundational principle that integrated data enabled integrated protection, two interoperable platforms were available, namely the Peduli WNI portal and the Computerized System for the Service and Protection of Indonesian Migrant Workers, which functioned as the central operational command for the entire migration cycle, from pre-departure to integration. The portal was integrated with key national databases run by different authorities, including the civil registry, the passport office and the social security department. Simultaneously, the computerized system ensured that verified data translated into concrete protection measures. For example, the system was used by the Ministry of Home Affairs to prevent identity fraud and trafficking and by the Social Security Management Agency for Employment to ensure that migrant workers had access to social security programmes from the pre-placement stage. In addition, the launch of the One Data Indonesia on International Migration Initiative, which was being developed in line with international statistical standards and Objective 1 of the Global Compact for Migration, would bring currently fragmented migration data from all key ministries and agencies into a single standardized statistical repository. Indonesia acknowledged persistent challenges, including data fragmentation, the underreporting of irregular migration and capacity gaps, and intended to leverage the migration initiative to monitor its commitments under the Convention, the Global Compact and the relevant Sustainable Development Goals, notably targets 8.8, 10.7 and 16.9.

A representative of Indonesia said that a sanctions mechanism was in place to ensure that any violation of rules regarding the placement and protection of Indonesian migrant workers was followed up. Reports could be made by the migrant worker, the family, the public or the inspection body. Reports were examined by the administrative sanctions committee, which was empowered to summon the company involved and to continue proceedings if it failed to appear. Cases dealt with included placement of a migrant worker without a permit, deployment to a banned destination, failure to repatriate a worker and misuse of the security deposit, and sanctions ranged from written warnings and temporary suspensions to administrative fines and licence revocations. Sanctions were lifted only once the company fulfilled all its obligations, including the restoration of the migrant worker’s rights; criminal proceedings were initiated where appropriate. In 2025, State authorities had taken action against nine placement companies, two of which had had their licences revoked. In addition, legal action had been taken against 13 illegal recruiters, and over 2 billion Indonesian rupiah had been recovered.

A representative of Indonesia said that the Government continued to strengthen services for prospective migrant workers through an integrated cross-sectorial approach. In destination countries, although it was not possible to establish one-stop integrated service centres owing to diplomatic constraints, protection and administrative services, including consular services, legal assistance, labour mediation, emergency response, documentation and temporary shelter, were delivered through embassies and consulates. At the national level, the public service model, in which several one-stop service functions had been integrated, ensured that all public services, including migration-related ones, were delivered through a modern, efficient and standardized digitalized system.

A representative of Indonesia said that the authorities worked with UNHCR and IOM to provide assistance to and fulfil the basic rights of the approximately 2,700 Rohingya refugees in the country, including registration, settlement, voluntary repatriation, temporary accommodation, food aid, healthcare and education. Social tensions did arise in some areas where Rohingya refugees stayed for extended periods awaiting resettlement in third countries, but the National Refugee Task Force was working to address issues between local communities and the refugees.

A representative of Indonesia said that, as the particular conditions in which seafarers were recruited and worked heightened the level of risk, the Government had made it a priority to ensure that they received full and effective protection. A significant development in that regard was the Constitutional Court’s clarification that Indonesian seafarers working abroad were considered to be Indonesian foreign workers, which provided an authoritative legal basis for applying the core protections under Laws No. 6 of 2011 and No. 39 of 2024. The Government was revising relevant regulations and administrative arrangements to ensure greater consistency across institutions responsible for labour, fisheries, immigration and overseas services and thus strengthen the implementation of protection and ensure the seamless application of procedures in situ.

Law enforcement bodies and maritime authorities conducted joint operations to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, which were often linked to forced labour and trafficking at sea. Joint labour inspection teams had also been established. The relevant authorities investigated allegations, imposed sanctions and revoked licences where appropriate. In the first half of 2025, nearly 120 cases involving seafarers had been referred to the Indonesian National Police. Indonesian nationals who were victims of crimes abroad were provided with shelter, legal aid, rescue and repatriation services, consular assistance and reintegration support. Those measures were reinforced by public awareness campaigns, bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation and efforts to ensure that recruitment was fair and ethical.

A representative of Indonesia said that women and their children, especially those born out of wedlock, who returned from abroad faced strong stigma owing to deeply rooted social norms and religious values that placed marriage at the centre of family life. In recognition of the fact that pregnancies abroad often occurred in complex, vulnerable circumstances, the Government of Indonesia took a protection-centred humanitarian approach to such cases, providing comprehensive assistance, including counselling, case assessment, mediation and reconciliation with families, to encourage acceptance and continuous support until a safe solution was found. Where integration into the family was not immediately possible, the competent regional office coordinated with the local social services to ensure that the mother and child received temporary care, protection and access to basic services. In addition, the Government had established a new Directorate of Reintegration and Family Strengthening.

Mr. Kariyawasam, noting that Indonesia was the largest and most populous State Party to the Convention,said that the Committee’s concluding observations would be intended to encourage it to improve so that it could become a model for other States Parties. The Committee would be grateful to the State Party if it could use mechanisms such as the universal periodic review to promote the ratification of the Convention, especially among countries of destination.

Ms. Dzumhur, commending the delegation on a highly constructive dialogue, said that she looked forward to learning about how the Committee’s recommendations had been used to achieve further progress on migrant rights in the State Party’s next periodic report.

A representative of Indonesia said that the inability to address all the questions raised by the Committee owing to time constraints in no way diminished the Government’s firm and unwavering commitment to uphold, respect and protect the rights of Indonesian migrant workers, who represented one of the nation’s essential pillars, and to ensure their empowerment, protection and well-being wherever they lived.

A representative of Indonesia said that the exchange with the Committee had not only allowed Indonesia to showcase its comprehensive efforts while acknowledging challenges, but had also provided it with a clearer road map for fuller implementation of the Convention in areas such as the protection of migrant workers in the informal sector, pre‑departure training, data collection and the regulation of private recruitment agencies. The Government fully recognized the immense socioeconomic contribution of migrant workers, both to destination countries and to the country’s own development, and their welfare, dignity and rights remained its highest priority.

However, the protection of migrant workers was a shared responsibility among countries of origin, transit and destination. Indonesia therefore reiterated its call for enhanced international cooperation in securing ratification of the Convention by more countries and for collective efforts to address the root causes of migration. It also urged its partners in destination countries to work with it to ensure decent working conditions and access to justice for all migrant workers.

Indonesia faced ongoing challenges in implementing the Convention, including challenges relating to data centralization and integration, institutional coordination and capacity-building. It was committed to pursuing its efforts and translating the Committee’s feedback into concrete action, including by working closely with all relevant stakeholders, such as the national human rights institution and civil society organizations.

The meeting rose at 1.05 p.m.