Emergency, exclusion, and inequity in education of refugee and asylum seeker children in Indonesia

Refugee and asylum seeker children in Indonesia have experienced exclusion and inequitable education. This paper, therefore, examines what are the gaps between International and Indonesian national laws on the right to education and its implementation in order to demonstrate educational exclusion and inequity. Subsequently, it scrutinizes the reasons why the inclusion and equity in the education of refugee and asylum seeker children should have been promoted in Indonesia. This paper examines international and national (Indonesian) documents (namely official law provisions, academic works, and research papers) and interviews with 13 informants in Jakarta and Bogor for data analysis. The findings reveal that the Indonesian national laws related to the right to education and its implementation have not been adequately recognized and exercised in accordance with the international laws. This paper argues that the Indonesian government should take into consideration the inclusive and equitable education for refugee children because these children are subject to an educational emergency. Moreover, the children could play some key roles in social, cultural, political and economic development.