Pathways of Continuity: Indonesia’s Role in Southeast Asia’s Refugee Governance
Abstract
This article interrogates the enduring character of non-binding, sovereignty-centric refugee governance across Southeast Asia by analyzing the role of Indonesia within two principal displacement episodes: the Indochinese refugee crisis (1975–1996) and the ongoing Rohingya crisis. Applying the analytical lens of historical institutionalism and foregrounding the notion of path dependency, the account demonstrates how operational norms forged under the Comprehensive Plan of Action—including temporary humanitarian shelter, conditional burden redistribution, and the construal of displacement as a temporary aberration—have resurfaced in Indonesia’s present-day posture. Archival records, policy tracts, and a selective review of the secondary literature furnish a reconstruction of Jakarta’s stewardship of the Galang Island camp and an assessment of its recent practices toward the Rohingya, encompassing semi-offshore rescues and deference to international humanitarian actors. The inquiry substantiates profound institutional and normative continuities that circumscribe Indonesia’s capacity and readiness to construct durable, rights-respecting protection frameworks, notwithstanding a shifting geopolitical and humanitarian tableau. By embedding Indonesia’s trajectory within the regional governance matrix, the study illuminates historical legacies that continue to inform Southeast Asian refugee policy and underscores the constraints afflicting reactive, episodic cooperation in the face of protracted displacement.
Keywords: Indochinese refugee, Indonesia, refugee crisis, refugee governance, Rohingya refugee, Southeast Asia
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Boychuk, G. W. (2016). “Studying Public Policy”: Historical Institutionalism and the Comparative Method. Canadian Journal of Political Science, 49(4), 743–761. https://doi.org/doi:10.1017/S0008423916001220
Capoccia, G. (2016). When Do Institutions “ Bite ”? Historical Institutionalism and the Politics of Institutional Change. Comparative Political Studies, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414015626449
Casella, A. (2016). Managing the “ Boat People ” Crisis : The Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese Refugees. New York: International Peace Institute.
Chimni, B. S. (2004). From resettlement to involuntary repatriation: towards a critical history of durable solutions to refugee problems. Refugee Survey Quarteerly, 23(3), 55–73.
Davies, S. E. (2008). Legitimising rejection: International refugee law in Southeast Asia. Leiden: Brill.
Fitria, F. (2020). The International Refugee Regime and Legal Pluralism: Refugee Protection of the Rohingya in Aceh. PhD Thesis. University of York. Accessed from https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/id/eprint/29495/.
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Hathaway, J. C. (2021). The Rights of Refugees under International Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Kneebone, S. Y., Mariñas, R., Missbach, A., & Walden, M. (2025). Refugee Protection in Southeast Asia: Between Humanitarianism and Sovereignty. New York: Berghahn Books.
Kneebone, S. Y., Missbach, A., & Jones, B. (2021). The False Promise of Presidential Regulation No. 125 of 2016? Asian Journal of Law and Society, 8(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/als.2021.2
Mahoney, J. (2000). Path dependence in historical sociology. Theory and Society, 29(4), 507–548.
Mathew, P., & Harley, T. (2016). Refugees, Regionalism, and Reponsibility. Northampton, MA: Edward Edgar Publishing.
McNevin, A., & Missbach, A. (2018). Luxury limbo: Temporal techniques of border control and the humanitarianisation of waiting. International Journal of Migration and Border Studies, 4(1–2), 12–34. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1504/IJMBS.2018.091222
McNevin, A., Missbach, A., & Mulyana, D. (2016). The rationalities of migration management: Control and subversion in an Indonesia-based counter-smuggling campaign. International Political Sociology, 10(3), 223–240. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/ips/olw009
Millard, M. (2024, September 12). "Lessons Learned from The Indochinese Refugee Movement in Canada in the 1970s and 1980s." Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Accessed from https://carfms.org/lessons-learned-from-the-indochinese-refugee-movement-in-canada-in-the-1970s-and-1980s/.
Missbach, A. (2017). Facets of Hospitality: Rohingya refugees’ temporary stay in Aceh. Indonesia, 104(1), 41–64. https://doi.org/10.1353/ind.2017.0010
Moodley, R. (2022). Rethinking “ Regional Processing”: Could the lessons learned from the Comprehensive Plan of Action for Indochinese refugees ( CPA) offer a roadmap for international cooperation in response to ‘regional’ refugee situations ? (No. 22–4).
Moretti, S. (2022). The Protection of Refugees in Southeast Asia: A Legal Fiction? London: Routledge.
Nobuto, Y. (2019). Refugee Crisis in Southeast Asia: Humanitarianism, Security, and Sovereignty. Social Transformations Journal of the Global South, 7(1), 71–94. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.13185/2799-015X.1104
Petcharamesree, S. (2016). ASEAN human rights regime and mainstreaming the responsibility to protect: Challenges and prospect. Global Responsibility to Protect, 8(2–3), 133–157.
Petcharamesree, S., & Capaldi, M. P. (2023). Migration in Southeast Asia. Cham, Switzerland: The Springer.
Prabandari, A. (2015). "Refugee Crisis Meeting Should Learn From Indochinese Solution." ASEAN Studies Center. Accessed from https://asc.fisipol.ugm.ac.id/2015/06/10/refugee-crisis-meeting-should-learn-from-indochinese-solution/
Prabaningtyas, R. A. R. F. (2019). Indonesia and the International Refugee Crisis: The Politics of Refugee Protection. JISSH: Journal of Indonesian Social Sciences and Humanities, 9(2), 131–145.
Seith, A. (2018). Myanmar’s Armed Forces and the Rohingya Crisis. Washington DC: United States Institute of Peace.
Sorensen, A. (2022). Taking critical junctures seriously: theory and method for causal analysis of rapid institutional change. Planning Perspectives, 38(5), 929–947. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2022.2137840
Sudrajat, T., Jati, B. K. H., & Gupta, C. M. (2024). Questioning Indonesia ’ s Role in Addressing Rohingya Refugees : A Legal , Humanitarian , and State Responsibility Perspective. Volksgeist, 7(40), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.24090/volksgeist.v7i1.10506
Sumarian, Y. (2019). Political economy of pragmatic refugee policies in Indonesia as a transit country. Asian Review, 32(3), 63–93. https://doi.org/10.58837/CHULA.ARV.32.3.4
Tambunan, I. (2025, August 8). "Galang Island’s Humanitarian Journey: From Vietnamese Refugee Camps to Covid Hospitals to Treating Gaza Residents." Kompas. Accessed from https://www.kompas.id/artikel/en-kisah-pulau-galang-jadi-kamp-pengungsi-vietnam-hingga-rumah-sakit-covid-19
Tan, A., P, C. R., Harahap, G. A. P., Lubis, R. S., & Angelyn, V. (2025). Menelusuri jejak pengungsi vietnam di pulau galang tentang sejarah, konflik, dan kenangan kelam. Jurnal Menata, 4(1), 15–20.
UNHCR. (n.d.). "History of UNHCR." UNHCR. Accessed from https://www.unhcr.org/id/en/who-we-are/history-unhcr
UNHCR. (2021). "Myanmar Situation." UNHCR. Accessed from https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/myanmar
UNHCR. (2024, February 23). "History of Displacement in Indonesia and the Role of UNHCR." UNHCR. Accessed from https://www.unhcr.org/id/en/news/press-releases/history-displacement-indonesia-and-role-unhcr
Viartasiwi, N., Langi, J. S. P., Tahir, A., Dwiyani, R., Prestasia, A., Hasanah, F., & Rosendra, Y. (2021). Annotated Bibliography: Urban Refugee Management in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Dago, Bandung: Resilience Development Initiative.
Yeung, W. J. (2022). Demographic and family transition in Southeast Asia. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.
Published
2025-12-02
How to Cite
PRABANDARI, Atin; KETAREN, Emma Seruni; SEGARA, Balya Arung.
Pathways of Continuity: Indonesia’s Role in Southeast Asia’s Refugee Governance.
Insignia: Journal of International Relations, [S.l.], v. 12, n. 2, p. 148-164, dec. 2025.
ISSN 2597-9868.
Available at: <https://jos.unsoed.ac.id/index.php/insignia/article/view/17940>. Date accessed: 15 dec. 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.20884/1.ins.2025.12.2.17940.
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Articles
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