The people of Indonesia & their culture, politics, economy and environment - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

Labour Migration

Far-sighted approach to migrant rights

The Indonesian government is much more interested in its own citizens abroad than Filipino migrant workers under its nose

Roadside medicine men

Bootleg medicine sales are part of Indonesia’s healthcare infrastructure

Multiplier effects on the Bombana goldfields

A photo of the front of a Toyota dealership.

Benefits ripple outwards but local government struggles to regulate the process

A room of one’s own

Mobile libraries and writers clubs reveal a rich reading and writing culture among Indonesian migrant workers in Hong Kong

In sickness and in wealth

Double-storey modern house funded by a migrant in Hong Kong - Carol Chan

Village morality complicates our assumptions about what it means to ‘succeed’ as a migrant worker

Bridging the divide after conflict

A recent visit to Ambon shows that trade is helping to bridge the divide in a religiously segregated society

Back with a vengeance

Indonesian migrant workers hone their activist sensibilities at a protest in Hong Kong - istolethetv at flickr.com

Former migrant workers are finding new empowerment in the bureaucratic jungle of legal aid

Wasted talent

Returned migrant workers have much to offer, but have trouble achieving recognition for the skills they’ve developed abroad

Passports optional

Indonesian migrant workers without visas - or sometimes even passports - rely on the help of middlemen to get past immigration checkpoints into East Malaysia

A matter of luck

Migrant domestic workers aspire to more than their home communities can offer and are willing to take risks to change their lives

American dreams

Undocumented Indonesian migrant labourers - known locally as kuli dollar - work long hours in difficult conditions in search of prosperity in Philadelphia