by: Jeremy D. Morley
Indonesia does not comply with international norms concerning the return of internationally abducted children and is a safe haven for international child abduction.
Indonesia has failed and refused to accede to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Abduction. More than 100 countries have adopted the treaty, but Indonesia has purposefully chosen not to do so.
Indonesia is not a party to any of the numerous Hague Conventions except for the Apostille Convention. Since its inception, over 40 Conventions and instruments have been adopted under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. (the HCCH).
The failure of a country to adopt the Hague Abduction Convention is, in and of itself, an extremely strong red flag that the country will not return abducted children and that it does not consider the abduction of children from other countries to be a serious matter.
If a child is abducted to Indonesia, the left-behind parent will need to commence a child custody case in Indonesia.
There may be significant difficulties in locating a child in Indonesia, especially if taken by an Indonesian parent,
There is no system to register foreign custody orders in Indonesia.
Nor is there any likelihood that an Indonesian court will enforce a foreign country's custody order.
Indonesia is not a party to any treaty with the United States on the enforcement of any foreign court orders.
There is no law in Indonesia similar to the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction & Enforcement Act in the United States.
The U.S. system whereby a court retains exclusive modification jurisdiction even after a child has become habitually resident in another country is not applied in Indonesia.
Custody awards in Indonesia generally favor the mothers, especially if the mother is Indonesian, and the father is a foreigner.
Court proceedings in Indonesia concerning custody or access to the internationally-abducted children are likely be slow, unpredictable, and difficult.
There are very significant problems in Indonesia with the independence of the judiciary and with corruption in Indonesia.
Procedures to enforce court orders in Indonesia can easily be thwarted, so that enforcement can easily be delayed for extended periods of time or permanently.