Semarang-Researching about the Legal Rights Policy of the Indonesian Diaspora in Southeast Asia and Australia, lecturer of IAIN (State Islamic Institute) Jember, Qurrotul Uyun, S.H., M.H. earned a Doctorate Degree in Constitutional Law from Diponegoro University (UNDIP) at the age of 27 years old. Uyun’s dissertation entitled “Conceptualization of Policy on Legal Rights Protection for Indonesian Diaspora in the Context of a Welfare State” in front of the Examiner Team consists of Prof. Dr. Retno Saraswati, S.H. M.Hum (Chairman), Prof. Dr. FX Adji Samekto, S.H., M.Hum, Prof. Dr. FX Djoko Priyono, S.H., M.Hum, Dr. Bayu Dwi Anggono, S.H., M.H., Dr. Sukirno, S.H., M.Si, Dr. Amalia Diamantina, S.H., M.Hum and Dr. Djoko Setiyono, S.H., M.Hum.
The Dean of Faculty of Law Undip, Prof. Dr. Retno Saraswati, S.H., M.Hum, appreciated the efforts made by Qurrotul Uyun in completing her doctoral studies. “As a qualitative research with a socio-legal approach, using the post-positivism paradigm, this scientific work is able to provide a new understanding of our policies towards diaspora,” said Prof. Retno, on Thursday (22/4/2021).
Qurrotul Uyun revealed that her study on diaspora was driven by the understanding that they had been born into a large community that had high experience in the journey of life with very strong global networking. Diaspora is also a source of foreign exchange or remittances of a country. “The Indonesian government needs to have a clear diaspora policy strategy in order to take advantage of the assets, networks and brain power of the Indonesian diaspora,” said Uyun after taking the dissertation exam, on Wednesday (21/4/2021).
According to this woman who was born in Jember in 1993, her graduation made her the youngest lecturer at IAIN Jember who obtains doctoral degree. “My husband, Dr. Wildan Hefni, two months ago won his doctorate at UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta at the age of 29. We are really grateful,” she said.
Graduated with a cumulative GPA of 3.82 and a study period of 3 years 7 months 17 days, Uyun is known to be working on a dissertation writing during pregnancy. “Before the seminar of research results, I entered the first month of pregnancy. I took the doctoral promotion exam at 9th months of pregnancy. The doctor gave a pregnancy prediction at the end of April. I hope it goes well,” she said.
For research, she went directly to meet the Indonesian diaspora in several countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, as well as Australia. Australia is included as a research subject due to the consideration to determine the extent of Indonesian diaspora in receiving legal rights protection from the Indonesian government. In this research, Prof. Dr. Retno Saraswati, S.H., M.Hum who is also the Dean of Faculty of Law Undip acts as a promoter, while Prof. Dr. FX Adji Samekto, S.H., M.Hum who currently serves at Pancasila Ideology Development Agency (Badan Pembinaan Ideologi Pancasila) as Deputy for Inter-Institutional Relations, Socialization, Communication, and Network; act as co-promoter.
Regarding the initial idea for her dissertation, Uyun said that it started from her curiosity about the diaspora phenomenon which has become a global phenomenon with a positive trend along with the increasing number of successful immigrants in the 21st century. The story of many successful immigrants made her think about the law which protect them.
To obtain the necessary data, the former activist of Indonesian Islamic Student Movement in Jember went directly to meet Indonesian Migrant Workers, and to the existing Indonesian Embassy and Representative offices. While domestically, Uyun also collected data from several institutions and ministries, including the Ministry of Law and Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, in particular the Directorate General of General Legal Administration, the Directorate of State Administration.
Besides, she also went to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Directorate General of Information and Public Diplomacy in charge of Diaspora Desk; the Directorate General of Protocol and Consular Affairs, as well as the Directorate for the Protection of Indonesian Citizens and Indonesian Legal Entities under the auspices of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The data is also extracted from the Indonesian House of Representatives, the Expert Staff of the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the field of Socio-Cultural Affairs and Indonesian Community Empowerment Overseas.
The results of the study, which are crossed with data from the Indonesian Diaspora Network, provide an understanding that if diaspora communities are positioned and given rights in a legal context, it is in line with the philosophical concepts of legal ideals, namely justice, usability and legal certainty. “The concept of a welfare state is essentially to provide protection for the basic interests of citizens in a country.”
Uyun’s research offers the ideal concept of protecting legal rights for the Indonesian diaspora based on One Pancasila Identity Concept (OPIC) paradigm. According to her, OPIC is the basis for clarifying the purpose of the regulation regarding the complete regulation of diaspora legal rights. (PR team)
Translated by: Titis (Public Relations)
