Unequal Borders: Indonesian Transnational Migrants at Immigration Control

This article analyses the Indonesian state's efforts to manage returning overseas migrant labourers. It examines state practices in the airport terminal for returning transnational migrant labourers (“Terminal 3”) in Jakarta. “Terminal 3” segregates returning overseas migrant contract workers, separating them out from the other travelers who pass through the “regular” terminal to enter into Indonesia. The article explores the spatial politics of the terminal through interviews with government officials and observations made at the airport terminal. Located in the context of long-term research on Indonesian migration, the case study illustrates specific ways in which the Indonesian state, through its selective and irregular application of regulatory procedures at the point of immigration, reproduces social inequalities through the repatriation process. In addition, it demonstrates the place-based nature of efforts to govern the transnational labouring class.