The passing of a law aimed at making it easier to do business and create jobs in Indonesia has led to
countrywide demonstrations, as reported by Reuters on 13 October 2020. Almost 4000 demonstrators were arrested as they protested against the apparent scrapping of labor protection laws and human rights.
Thomas Muller, persecution analyst at World Watch Research (WWR), explains: "The so-called Omnibus Law will amend around 80 different laws and is said to cut red tape in doing business in the country. Critics say that it scraps labor protection and environmental laws as well as human rights. In the wake of the protests, eight activists were arrested from the
newly founded civil society group KAMI (WWR, 22 October 2020, password: freedom). Long-term observers have the worrying memory of the "Reformasi protests" in the late 90s, which led to the downfall of long-term ruler Suharto. The current protests seem to be following a
similar pattern: First, the main organizers are again student groups (this time in combination with Islamist and conservative Muslim groups); secondly, the government"s response has again been to claim foreign interference and discourage protest leaders by carrying out personal visits and heavy-handedly arresting thousands (New Mandala, 12 October 2020). Given that the country faces serious economic challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the cry for simple solutions is only likely to get louder."
Thomas Muller concludes: "Authoritarianism seems to be returning to Indonesia, this time with an Islamic tinge, which does not bode well for the country"s religious minorities."
