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Discrimination holds back religious minority children

In December 2021, I had the chance to talk with a bright 14-year-old girl named Maria Tunbonat, a fifth-grader in a state school in Tarakan, North Kalimantan. Her father, Ayub, also joined the video call as we spoke about her school and her…
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End Closures and Prevent Demolition of Ahmadiyah Mosque

On September 3, at least 130 Malay Sunni vigilantes attacked an Ahmadiyah mosque in Balai Harapan village, Sintang regency, West Kalimantan. The attack occurred after Friday prayers, during which the imam at a nearby Sunni mosque, Mochammad Hedi…
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Religious Minorities in Indonesia Face Discrimination

Last September, I drove for four hours from Jakarta to a small town in western Java, staying one night in a Javanese-styled hotel at the foot of Mt. Ciremai, a 3,000-meter volcano on Java. When I got to Cisantana, I journeyed down a…
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The Human Cost of Indonesia’s Blasphemy Law

Last month, I visited Meliana, an Indonesian woman jailed for blasphemy, in a prison in Medan, North Sumatra. The security was tight. No mobile phones. No pens. No money. We could only bring some cakes. I went there with Musdah Mulia, a…
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Purnama after the sentencing in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.
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The Chance to Urge Religious Freedom in Indonesia

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is visiting Indonesia this week on his first international trip as Australia’s leader. The two governments will announce a new trade deal and Australia is keen to show this as a deepening of ties between the two…
A police officer stands guard during a protest by supporters of Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, outside Cipinang Prison where he was taken following his conviction of blasphemy in Jakarta, Indonesia, 9 May 2017.
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Indonesia’s Courts Have Opened the Door to Fear and Religious Extremism

By Jailing Ahok for Blasphemy, Judges Have Sent a Chilling Message

The Jakarta court that sentenced governor Basuki “Ahok” Purnama to two years’ imprisonment for blasphemy against Islam has sent a chilling message to non-Muslims in Indonesia. How could religious freedom slowly decline in Indonesia? And…
Governor Basuki “Ahok” Purnama after the sentencing in his blasphemy trial in Jakarta on May 9, 2017.
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Indonesia Religious Discrimination Harms Education Rights

Zulfa Nur Rohman, a student at a vocational public school in Semarang, Central Java, failed the 11th grade because of his religious faith. School administrators informed Zulfa, an adherent of a Javanese traditional faith Hayu Ningrat, that he cannot…
A sign on an Ahmadiyah mosque in South Jakarta, Indonesia reads, "This building is sealed due to inappropriate usage." The mosque was closed by government authorities in July 2015.
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Dispatches: New Protection for Saudi Arabia’s Domestic Workers

Yesterday, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia inked an agreement that says Indonesian women working in Saudi homes will be able to keep their passports, communicate with their families, get paid monthly, and have time off. The new pact comes in the wake of years…
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Dignity in Decent Work

Protect Domestic Workers From Abuse

“I woke up at 4:15 a.m.,” Asma said. “I was exhausted when I went to sleep at 10 p.m. I only had five minutes’ rest … I did not get any days off [or] salary.” Asma is one of an estimated 1.8 million women and girls in Indonesia who engage in domestic work…
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Sufi Muslims Feel the Heat of Indonesia’s Rising Intolerance

The plight of the Al-Mujahadah Foundation madrassa in southern Aceh illustrates the perils of rising religious intolerance for Indonesia’s religious minorities. The school, a private institution that instructed dozens of students 8 to 25 years of age in…
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What award winning President SBY should say

It’s not every day that a world leader whose country frequently makes the news for sectarian violence wins a religious freedom award.  But on May 30, the Appeal of Conscience Foundation in New York City will honor Indonesian President Susilo Bambang…
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Leadership deficit fuels intolerance

United States President Barack Obama praised “the spirit of religious tolerance that is enshrined in Indonesia’s constitution, and that remains one of its defining and inspiring characteristics” during a visit to Jakarta in November 2010. Tell that to…
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'Clock ticking' for Indonesia to tackle religious intolerance

Denial and blame the messenger. That is the approach of the government of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to rising religious intolerance and violence against religious minorities. Last week, Yudhoyono's spokesman Julian Adrian Pasha…
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Jakarta Condones Religious Violence

Indonesian officials, including members of the cabinet, encourage attacks on religious minorities

The worst fears of the Shia Muslim community in Sampang in Indonesia's East Java came to pass on Aug. 20, 2012. That morning, hundreds of Sunni militants attacked the community, torching some 50 homes, killing one man and seriously injuring another. The…
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Plight of Domestic Workers Still Forgotten in the Sex Abuse Debate

In March, Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali made headlines by announcing plans to ban skirts above the knee, calling such attire “pornographic.” That month, the speaker of the House of Representatives, Marzuki Alie, proclaimed: “There have been a…
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An abhorrent trail of abuse

At least nine Cambodian women died last year while performing domestic work in Malaysia. And the grim reality is that, without strong action by the Cambodian and Malaysian governments to rein in exploitative recruitment and employment practices, more…
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Protecting Indonesia’s Vulnerable Migrant Domestic Workers

Anis Hidayah Receives the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism

Anis Hidayah was literally going into labor with her second child when she answered her phone, suspecting it would be a migrant worker needing her help. She was right. The woman had recently returned to Indonesia and said she was being extorted before…

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