Assessing border control management of immigration control at airports in Indonesia: a theoretical and empirical study

Author: Ridwan Arifin

Arifin, Ridwan, 2020 Assessing border control management of immigration control at airports in Indonesia: a theoretical and empirical study, Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law

Terms of Use: This electronic version is (or will be) made publicly available by Flinders University in accordance with its open access policy for student theses. Copyright in this thesis remains with the author. You may use this material for uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968. If you are the owner of any included third party copyright material and/or you believe that any material has been made available without permission of the copyright owner please contact copyright@flinders.edu.au with the details.

Abstract

Dozens of fugitives crossed Indonesia’s border controls between 2011 and 2020. These cases indicate a weakness in the immigration practices and poor border security. This thesis evaluates the border control management (BCM) of immigration control practices to identify national strategies and assess the maturity of the Directorate General of Immigration’s border control systems. This thesis asks questions about whether airport’s immigration control policies engage with established international standards. It employs qualitative research with the document analysis critically assessing the security and facilitation of immigration clearance processes based on the BCM ICAO TRIP GUIDE 2018. Online secondary data was collected from the Directorate's annual reports, statistics, policy briefs, and academic journal articles. Data analysis draws upon existing theories and concepts of border control management, border technology, migration policy, and border security. Findings demonstrate the weaknesses of Indonesia’s border control management practices, low-security approach, fragmented policy, overlapping authorities, inadequate information, obsolete border technology, and weak border law enforcement. Four strategies are proposed to address the issues: adoption of the international standards and practices; deployment of more automated border control machines with biometric databases; improving border technology; and initiating the concept of integrated border management (IBM). This study concludes that a more systematic and theoretical study of primary data is required for a more definitive evaluation of immigration control policies at all borders in Indonesia.

Keywords: immigration clearance, border governance, border technology

Subject: Social Administration thesis

Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2020
School: College of Business, Government and Law
Supervisor: Dr. Michael Sullivan