The Implementation Of International Disaster Response Laws Towards Indonesian Sovereignty

Abstract

In the last decade, the occurrences of natural and man-made disasters with devastating damage on affected societies in Indonesia have intensified. The 2004 tsunami in Aceh, the 2009 earthquake in West Sumatra and the 2010 Mount Merapi volcanic eruption are some of the natural disasters which caused severe destruction which was beyond the capacity of the host state to mitigate. International humanitarian assistance by international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations were needed help the host state. The International Red Cross Federation and Red Crescent Societies initiated the International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) and in 2008, the UN General Assembly adopted three related resolutions. In 2007, the Indonesian Government enacted Law No. 24 of 2007 on Disaster Management in response. This legal instrument provides the legal basis for the international communities to help host states during emergency disaster response. However, the sovereignty of the host state must be respected in giving humanitarian assistance during the disaster response. Regardless of the severity of a disaster or the number of victims waiting to be rescued, state sovereignty cannot be superseded. In fact, the international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations might be violating Indonesian sovereignty when providing humanitarian assistance during disaster emergency response situations. The objective of the research is to identify if the implementation of International Disaster Response Laws in Indonesia by international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations during disaster emergency response situations violate the sovereignty of Indonesia. By using normative legal research with statute and case approaches, the research found that the implementation of International Disaster Response Laws during disaster emergency response situations clearly provides an opportunity for international organizations and foreign non-governmental organizations to violate the sovereignty of Indonesia.