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Indonesia’s recent discovery of Chinese workers without proper work permits in the Galang Batang special economic zone exposes a systemic enforcement failure with serious human costs.

Provincial labor inspectors found dozens of Chinese nationals working without the mandatory Foreign Worker Utilization Plan and valid employment documents, prompting fines and deportations.

This reactive response treats the problem as a paperwork violation but misses the deeper issue: weak enforcement allows undocumented labor to arrive and work, exposing workers to harm before anyone acts.

As host country, Indonesia carries the first and most urgent responsibility to stop illegal employment before it starts. Indonesian rules already require approved work permits and valid work visas before foreign labor can be hired. But these systems remain fragmented.

Foreign nationals regularly enter on short-term or visitor visas and begin work without verification. This is not an isolated loophole. It shows that enforcement at borders and at workplaces is too weak and too late. If unauthorized workers slip into jobs before anyone checks their status, the protections that Indonesian law promises never reach them.

Workers without legal status are highly vulnerable. They lack access to basic labor protections under Indonesian law and have no legal standing to claim wages, safe working conditions, or any form of recourse.

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Deportation eliminates their physical presence but does nothing to protect them while they work without legal status or to change the conditions that allowed their exploitation in the first place.

A labor rights review under the United Nations Universal Periodic Review noted that undocumented foreign workers are particularly vulnerable to deception, withheld wages, and unsafe conditions, often with no recourse at all.

This is not just about paperwork. Even when foreign workers hold legal status on paper, Indonesia’s enforcement rarely ensures they receive basic rights. Research on Indonesia’s nickel downstreaming program found that foreign workers — including many from China — often lack access to occupational safety protections, dispute-resolution mechanisms or real pathways to enforce their rights.

Enforcement of labor law is inadequate, particularly in remote industrial zones where foreign labor is concentrated. These conditions show that legality on paper often means little in practice.

China’s role in this dynamic is shaped by the enforcement environment Indonesia creates. Chinese companies and recruitment networks will exploit workers through systems that tolerate loopholes and weak oversight. If Indonesian border controls and labor enforcement are slow or disconnected, firms take advantage.

But that is not a reason to accept weak enforcement. That is a reason to fix it. Indonesia must build regimes that verify legal status before departure, at entry points, and at workplaces, so that undocumented workers never begin unauthorized employment.

Indonesia’s enforcement must be preventive, not reactive. Immigration systems must be linked with labor permit databases so border officials can deny entry to workers without verified authorization. Work permits should be verified before visas are issued.

Labor and immigration officials should coordinate real-time data sharing so unauthorized work is detected before it turns into exploitation. Employers caught trying to hire illegal workers should face penalties that exceed the economic benefit of non-compliance to deter future violations.

China must play a supportive role. Chinese recruitment networks and firms should ensure that workers receive verified Indonesian work permits before departure, with clear and enforceable contracts. Chinese consulates should verify documentation and help workers understand Indonesian legal requirements and protections.

Cooperation on legal labor mobility protects Chinese workers from exploitation and strengthens diplomatic ties based on rule of law and human dignity.

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This is not about shutting the door to foreign labor. Many industries in Indonesia rely on foreign expertise that local workers cannot immediately supply. But foreign labor must be legal, transparent and enforceable.

Illegal employment erodes the rule of law and exposes workers to harm without access to protections. And if legal status does not guarantee rights in practice, then the problem is not only documentation, but enforcement of protections after employment begins.

Indonesia must act before illegal workers arrive and before their rights can be violated. China must help ensure that workers entering Indonesia are documented and informed.

Together, these states can prevent Chinese workers from being channeled into illegal, exploitative employment and uphold the legal and human rights protections that labor migration is supposed to guarantee.

Muhammad Zulfikar Rakhmat is director of the China-Indonesia Desk at the Jakarta-based Center of Economic and Law Studies (CELIOS) independent research institute. Yeta Purnama is a researcher at CELIOS.