Bureaucrats' role key to end discrimination<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A legal expert welcomes the recently issued
\npresidential decree which aims at eradicating discrimination
\nagainst people of Chinese descent, but notes that its success
\nwill largely depend on bureaucrats' political will.<\/p>\n
\"It's the bureaucrats with low morality who have taken
\nadvantage of legal procedures to make things more difficult for
\nthe ethnic Chinese,\" Harry Tjan Silalahi told The Jakarta Post
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The decree dated July 9 waived the requirement for the wife
\nand children of naturalized citizens to obtain a court document
\nstating their Indonesian nationality.<\/p>\n
With Presidential Decree no. 56\/1996, Indonesian citizenship
\nbecomes automatic. They will no longer be required to produce the
\ncourt document, known as SBKRI, for administrative matters.<\/p>\n
The requirement, based on a 1968 regulation, has been regarded
\nas discriminatory by people of Chinese descent, particularly
\nbecause obtaining an SBKRI is costly and complicated.<\/p>\n
The ruling follows another decree issued in August last year
\nwhich simplified naturalization and made it free of charge to the
\nhundreds of thousands of ethnic Chinese who had been stateless
\nsince 1969, when Indonesia cut diplomatic ties with China. The
\ntwo countries reinstated ties in 1990.<\/p>\n
According to Harry, an executive and advisory member of the
\nBakom-PKB, a government-sponsored agency for promoting social
\nintegration between ethnic groups and indigenous people, the
\nissuance of the decree is a very important step in eliminating
\nadministrative discrimination. He noted, however, that there is
\nnothing particularly new in the decree.<\/p>\n
\"The government wants to show that at least they are trying to
\ndo something about the protracted problem,\" Harry said.<\/p>\n
Just before leaving for the Olympics in Atlanta, badminton
\nchampion Susi Susanti told the Post that it took her seven years
\nbefore she finally obtained her Indonesian nationality last May.<\/p>\n
\"If it was not for the Badminton Association of Indonesia, I
\nwouldn't have gotten it,\" she said, adding that her younger
\nsister has been fighting for citizenship for eight years.<\/p>\n
There is still a remaining illness in the business field,
\nHarry pointed out. \"A few successful businessmen, who are in
\ncollusion with many government officials, have created resentment
\namong the majority of those who are unsuccessful,\" he said.<\/p>\n
A long-time resident of the Gunung Sahari subdistrict in
\nJakarta described one type of discrimination she faces in her
\ncommunity. She said that donations for community events are fixed
\nby the community leaders on the basis of residents' ethnicity.<\/p>\n
\"I have to pay more than others,\" the resident, who requested
\nanonymity, told the Post. (yan\/14)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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