Indonesia

Homelessness is still a relatively new concept in Indonesia. There is not yet a generally accepted definition, no accurate data are available, and little has been written about the topic.

The official Indonesian term for “homeless” is tunawisma, Old-Javanese for “no (tuna) home (wisma).” The Majlis Bahasa Brunei Darussalam– Indonesia–Malaysia (Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia– Malaysia Language Council) in 2000 adopted the word ketunawismaan as the translation of “homelessness” to be used in the three countries.

Another word often used to describe homelessness is gelandangan, which has the same meaning and connotation as the English word “tramp.” Gelandangan is often used in combination with pengemis (“beggar”). In fact, a new word gepeng (combining gelandangan and pengemis) has been coined and is often used in the context of operations to remove the homeless from places such as street intersections, where they are seen as an eyesore and a nuisance to motorists. Sometimes gepeng is used to describe psychiatric cases who wander about the city aimlessly. In the Social Welfare Act 6 of 1974, these people are grouped together with prostitutes, street children, and substance abusers under the label penyandang masalah sosial (“people suffering from social problems”).

The Housing and Settlement Act 4 (1992), though acknowledging the housing shortage in Indonesia, makes no single mention of tunawisma, ketunawismaan, gelandangan or gepeng. The act sees housing more in terms of adequacy. The act recognizes the right of all citizens “to live in and/or to have the use of and/or to own an adequate house located in a healthy, safe, harmonious and orderly environment” (Housing and Settlement Act 4 [1992], Article 5[1]).

It defines adequate housing as “a house structure that, at least, meets building safety, minimum floor area and health requirements” (Housing and Settlement Act 4 [1992] Official Explanatory Note of Article 5[1]). A healthy, safe, harmonious, and orderly environment is defined as an environment that “meets spatial planning, land-use, ownership and service provision requirements” (Housing and Settlement Act 4 [1992], Official Explanatory Note of Article 5[1]). Thus, according to the act there are two aspects of adequacy: physical and legal.

Indonesia's 2000 national census divided the population into two main categories, namely, those “having a permanent place to stay” (mempunyai tempat tinggal tetap) and those “not having a permanent place to stay” (tidak mempunyai tempat tinggal tetap). According to the census guidelines, those who do not have a permanent place to stay include tunawismas, boat crew, people living in houseboats/floating houses, and itinerant or nomadic communities (usually living in remote areas). The 2000 census results showed that out of the 203.4 million Indonesians, 3.2 million (1.6 percent) do not have a permanent place to stay.