Migrant Workers' Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia

This groundbreaking report is the first comprehensive study of migrant workers’ access to justice in their country of origin. Using the example of Indonesia as a case study, the report analyses the mechanisms through which migrant workers may access justice in Indonesia or through its embassies, and the systemic barriers that prevent most workers from receiving full redress for harms that they suffer before, during, and after their work abroad.

The report finds that private Indonesian recruiters and insurers are rarely held responsible for rights breaches, and it makes detailed recommendations to improve migrant workers’ access to justice and private sector accountability in Indonesia in 11 key areas, addressed to government, parliament, civil society, donors, and others. Migrant Workers’ Access to Justice at Home: Indonesia provides a strong evidence-based foundation for advocacy and law reform within Indonesia and globally. It outlines the laws, policies, and procedures that govern the operation of each redress mechanism and can also function as a guide for civil society groups in Indonesia to better understand, use, and test existing justice mechanisms to enforce migrant workers’ rights.

This report was prepared with the assistance of the TIFA Foundation and Open Society Foundations (OSF), the University of New South Wales Law School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  It is published by OSF in New York.

Download related Policy Briefs