A job advertisement by Indonesia’s local religious affairs bureau that discriminates against non-Muslims has been amended following a challenge, officials said.
An October 10 advertisement by the Tarakan Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office in North Kalimantan province specified that applicants for custody and office security positions must be Muslims who can recite the Quran, but the Tarakan branch of the Indonesian Christian Students Movement (Gelakan Mahasiswa Kristen Indonesia, GMKI) called this a discriminatory government policy.
Michael Jama, head of the Tarakan branch of the Indonesian Christian Student Movement (GMKI), questioned the need for religious qualifications for non-religious positions.
“Why do I need a specific religious qualification to maintain office security or clean an office?” Michael said, according to news agency Kraya.id, adding that the job requires integrity and competence, not religious labels.
Michael said the recruitment regulations violate Article 27(1) and Article 28D(2) of the Indonesian Constitution on the right to work without discrimination. He said the ad put Indonesia’s pluralism at risk in Tarakan.
“The Secretariat of the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Tarakan City is not just for Muslims, but all Tarakan residents from different religious backgrounds,” he said, reported Kraya.id.
Instagram user account @kabarsejuk denounced the ad as a “recruitment display of religious discrimination institutionalized by the state,” adding: “This action is inconsistent with the equality principle of the 1945 Constitution and ILO (International Labor Organization) Convention No. 111.”
Article 1 of the ILO Convention rejects “any distinction, exclusion or preference based on race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national or social origin which has the effect of nullifying or impairing equality of opportunity and treatment in employment or profession”.
The Instagram user pointed out that many churches in Indonesia employ large numbers of Muslims, saying, “Many churches in Indonesia employ Muslim workers without questioning their faith. These workers are still allowed to worship freely while maintaining a professional working environment.”
The Persatuan India untuk Semua (PIS) movement also pointed out that the recruitment of civil servants based on religion is a form of systemic discrimination that, if left unchecked, is extremely dangerous and undermines the equality of all citizens.
“This could gradually undermine the principle of equality of citizens before the law,” the PIS movement explained in a video and written statement. “The Ministry of Religious Affairs should be the protector of all people and not be a bad example of bureaucratic intolerance. If an institution that is supposed to maintain harmony sets religious requirements for roles like security guards or cleaning services, that perspective may be wrong.”
According to Kraia.id, following public criticism, the Tarakan Regency Department of Religious Affairs removed the Islamist requirement from the advertisement at 1pm on the same day (October 10).
A Tarakan Ministry of Religious Affairs official who goes by the name Sultan reportedly said the ad had been in circulation for two years. He said the language outlining the discriminatory requirements existed because it was posted in local hajj dormitories, adding that his office had not previously revised it because it was preparing for an official visit by Indonesia’s minister of religious affairs.
national favoritism
Despite the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom, granting employment opportunities to certain groups could be classified as state preferential treatment, said Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice president of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace.
Bonar said Indonesia was not founded on Islam, citing another example of state favoritism in the government’s plan to rebuild the Al-Khojinui Islamic traditional boarding school in Sawahan village, East Java province’s Sido Aljo Regency Buduran district, which collapsed last month and killed dozens of people.
According to the official website of the National Disaster Management Agency (Badang Nasional Penanglangan Benkana), bnpb.go.id, the school’s male dormitory collapsed on September 29 after the management’s attempt to build a fourth floor failed.
“Due to this sudden incident, dozens of students and workers were crushed by falling construction materials,” the report said.
The number of victims remains unknown, but at least 67 people died as a result of the building’s design errors, according to detik.com. Of these, police identified 58 schools. Moreover, Sidoarjo regent Subandi said the school did not have a construction permit.
“If we don’t have permission, we will stop construction,” Subandi told detik.com. “We don’t want this tragedy to happen again.”
Indonesia’s Public Works Minister Dodi Khangod said only 51 of the country’s 42,000 traditional Islamic boarding schools have the necessary approvals.
“Most of them seem to be unauthorized. Only 51 buildings are recorded in our PBG system,” Dodi reportedly said after meeting with Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Muhaimin Iskandar at the Ministry of Public Works in South Jakarta on October 7.
Social media users pointed to the contradiction in the government funding the reconstruction of unauthorized Muslim buildings while harassing Christians whose building permit applications were ignored.
“The traditional Islamic boarding school did not have a building permit (IMB) and its structure did not meet building standards and collapsed, killing 67 students. It will be rebuilt with state funds, but a church building without a building permit will land the pastor in jail,” said Kudnaripan, a viewer of the video published by BBC Indonesia.
User edycahyono980 replied, “If a church is burnt down and damaged, can it be rebuilt with national funds? I’m sorry, I’m seriously asking this in a kind tone.”
According to a report on detik.com, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment, Muhaimin Iskandar, suggested that the national budget (APBN, Angaran Pembiyaan Dan Belanja Negara) could be used to rebuild the Al Hojnu Islamic Traditional Boarding School.
“Al-Khojinui should receive support from APBN because if there are 1,900 students, where will they go to school? Will they be living in tents? Is the government just sitting on its hands? ? What is your solution to those who are protesting the use of APBN? What is your solution to the House, where one or two members are protesting? 1,900 students are studying,” Muhaimin said after the joint signing. The agreement at his office on Tuesday (October 14) in Central Jakarta.
The statement drew criticism from various groups who argued that regulatory aspects and fiscal equity need to be considered in the use of state funds, as state funds are intended for everyone.
“The Ministry of Religious Affairs is certainly one of the top five ministries receiving significant state funding,” said Setara’s Bonnard. “In addition to supporting education, this funding supports groups such as Islamic schools and boarding schools, as well as Islamic organizations and local social activities. Of course, this is blatant favoritism.”
According to Open Doors, Indonesian society has taken on a more conservative Islamic character in recent years, putting evangelistic churches at risk of becoming targets for Islamic extremist groups.
