Yogyakarta, September 1st 2021─The Department of Governmental Politics (DPP) Fisipol UGM held a public lecture titled “State Border Diplomacy” on Monday (01/09). This time, the speaker, Dr. Thomas Umbu Pati, is an alumni of DPP Fisipol UGM who is now the Director of Urban Management and State Border in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The moderator was Dr. Arie Ruhyanto as a lecturer in DPP Fisipol UGM. The event was held online and attended by 48 people with the topic that spans from the essence of what is a state border to the management of various problems in the border area.
The opening remarks were given by Prof. Purwo Santoso as a lecturer from DPP Fisipol UGM. In his remarks, he talked about the issue of state borders that is quite complex. He said that when we talk about state borders it’s not always about the geopolitical issue but also border digitalization, diplomacy issues, and other aspects. Other than that, he also said that Indonesia is quite a diverse country. The issue of foreign affairs, formal diplomacy, and border management make a good discussion and needs to be paid attention to more by various parties.
Then, the material titled “State Borders Diplomacy” was presented which consisted of the experiences and results of all the works concerning urban and border management. In the material, it is said that basically the state border of Indonesia is based on the law No 43 Year 2008 about State Border that differentiates the management between border and frontier. Additionally, in state borders management there are three approaches; environment, security, and welfare. The issue of state borders is quite diverse, to give the mandate of the state borders diplomacy exclusively to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs turns out to be insufficient to address the current problem. Because of that, the involvement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in diplomacy can be a useful collaboration between ministries towards a better welfare for the people at the borders.