Judha Nugraha
Judha Nugraha is an Indonesian diplomat who is currently serving as ambassador to the United Arab Emirates since 2025. He previously served as the director of the Indonesian citizen protection in the foreign ministry from 2019 to 2025.
Early life and education
Born on 9 November 1974, Judha completed high school at the 8th Yogyakarta state high school. He began studying economics at the Gadjah Mada University in 1993. Judha received master's degree in diplomacy and trade from the Monash University in 2003.Diplomatic career
Judha joined the foreign ministry in December 2000. He was posted to various diplomatic representatives abroad throughout his tenure in the foreign ministry. He served for three and a half years at the economic section of Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, rising from third secretary to the rank of second secretary. He handled issues relating to the General Council, Committee on Agriculture, G33, G20, Cairns Group, and was involved in Indonesia's deputy chairmanship of the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2009. After serving in Geneva, Judha was posted to the Kuala Lumpur's embassy's consular section with the rank of first secretary, during which he was responsible in protecting Indonesia citizens in the country.Director of Indonesian Citizen Protection
In 2017, Judha was named as the deputy director for institutional affairs and protection diplomacy within the foreign ministry's directorate of Indonesian citizen protection. During his tenure, he was involve in the repatriation of an Indonesian migrant workers murdered in Malaysia, Indonesian crew members who were stranded in India and the Netherlands, and freeing Indonesian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia from a death sentence. He became the acting director for Indonesian citizen protection in 2019 for a few months before being permanently appointed to the position in September 2019. According to him, at the start of his tenure he felt that his predecessor Lalu Muhamad Iqbal had "left very big shoes" for him to fill. Iqbal later consoled him, stating that he "has his own path" and assured him the support of his staffs.During his tenure, Judha oversaw the implementation of the Peduli WNI portal in embassies, which was intended as a unified digital platform for Indonesian citizen services and protection and integrated with the Ministry of Home Affairs’ population system. Under Judha, the directorate implemented the three-step approach of prevention, early detection, and immediate response to handle Indonesian citizen protection issues. He was also directly involved in evacuating Indonesian citizens from Wuhan during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and repatriating Indonesian citizens from warzones in Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian War, Sudan following the Sudanese civil war, Iran during the Iran–Israel war, and Gaza following the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. During the latter, Judha worked closely with American lobbyist Joey Allaham, who used his backchannel to ensure the safety of Indonesia. He also led the repatriation of 400 Indonesian victims of human trafficking from Myawaddy, Myanmar, where he personally traveled to the Thailand–Myanmar border to oversee the rescue and ensure their safety. For his work in ensuring the safety of Indonesian citizens, Judha was nicknamed as the "guardian angel" of Indonesian citizens. He served as director until his replacement by Heni Hamidah, the secretary of the directorate general for protocol and consular affairs, in an acting capacity on 20 October 2025. In total, Judha served as deputy director and director for eight years, six months, and twenty days.