Indonesia’s Omnibus bill needs improved rights guarantees, MPs say

An Indonesian translation of this statement can be found here.

JAKARTA – As Indonesia’s parliament opens today, regional MPs are calling for the Omnibus bill on job creation to be rejected, until genuine consultations are conducted with civil society and affected communities, and the bill is brought into line with international human rights standards. 

An omnibus bill is a document comprising different measures packaged together, and accepted in a single vote by the legislature. Indonesia’s Omnibus bill on job creation, aimed at attracting renewed foreign and domestic investment, alters more than 70 laws. It was submitted to the House of Representatives on 12 February, with the aim of completing deliberations within 100 days. 

ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) is gravely concerned about the bill’s impact on the human rights of Indonesians, including their rights to work, and to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. 

“This is a perfect example of how not to encourage economic growth. Instead of focussing on sustainable and people-centred development, the Indonesian government is trading its people’s labour, environmental and human rights for the promise of unchecked investment,” said Teddy Baguilat, a former Philippine parliamentarian, and APHR Board Member. “The impacts of this short-sightedness will be felt by the country’s most vulnerable. Thankfully, there is still an opportunity for the government to change course, by listening to all voices, and by introducing a new bill that both stimulates economic growth and protects people’s rights.” 

Revisions to Environmental Law 32/2009 will lower the standards for environmental protection, and reduce community involvement in decisions that impact their environment and resources, APHR said. For example, it is unclear from the bill how some risks posed by investments to the environment will be addressed, such as low but systemic risks, or those that evolve over time, such as climate change. 

“In a country as large as Indonesia, it is the local actors who understand the situation in their area best,” said Baguilat. “These decisions need to be made by people on the ground, not someone sitting in the capital thousands of miles away, with little grasp of the local context.” 

Meanwhile, the lowering of standards concerning sick and other types of leave, severance pay, labour flexibility, ease of recruiting and laying off workers threatens Indonesians’ labour rights, APHR said. 

“In its current form, the bill will have a dreadful impact on the rights of workers, and of those most reliant on their natural environment, like indigenous peoples and women,” said Chamnan Chanruang, a former Thailand Member of Parliament (MP) and APHR member. “The role of the law should be to protect workers from the harmful and unjust practices of employers. Instead, the Omnibus bill opens the door for further abuses.”

APHR is also extremely concerned by the fact that the bill threatens to erode Indonesia’s rule of law and balance of powers. In particular, Article 170 of the Omnibus bill allows the central administration to use a government regulation (Peraturan Pemerintah) to change existing laws in order to create jobs. While the provision states that the central government can consult the leadership of the House of Representatives before such a decision is made, this step is only optional

It is also troubling that the bill was drafted without transparent and meaningful consultations with civil society and local governments, including those who called for its cancellation in its entirety, APHR said.

“Meaningful consultations are crucial to ensuring that civil society and those most affected by the bill can openly raise their concerns,” said Chanruang. “So far, the lack of input from other actors undermines the bill’s credibility in a democratic country.”