Citizenship rules need revision<\/p>\n
The House of Representatives is now working on the revision of
\nthe Citizenship Law (No. 62\/1958), which has caused many
\ndifficulties for couples of different nationalities. This week's
\ncover story highlights the problems caused by the legislation and
\nunderlines the need for its revision.<\/p>\n
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
At a glance, Sue's marriage may seem like one made in
\nHollywood as it involved short courtship (five months) and was
\nfollowed by separation three years later.<\/p>\n
The difference for the 36-year-old British woman was that
\ninstead of a million dollars in alimony and custody of her
\nchildren, she had to leave this country and \"kidnap\" her two sons
\nfrom her Indonesian husband.<\/p>\n
All because of the Citizenship Law (No. 62\/1958), which does
\nnot allow dual citizenship.<\/p>\n
The law stipulates that children automatically take the
\nfather's citizenship, the wife cannot claim custody of the
\nchildren after a divorce because of her different nationality,
\nand must be sponsored by her husband should she wish to live in
\nIndonesia, as well as obtain sponsorship from her employer should
\nshe want to work.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, like in Sue's case, an Indonesian husband
\ncan easily revoke his sponsorship of his wife and force her out
\nof the country, leaving her children behind.<\/p>\n
\"During four years of sporadic physical abuse by my husband, I
\ntried to leave him on many occasions. But he told me that if I
\nleft him, I would never be allowed to keep the children as they
\nwere Indonesian,\" Sue, who asked The Jakarta Post not to reveal
\nher last name, said by e-mail.<\/p>\n
This was despite the fact that she had supported the family,
\nand his, from the time of their marriage in 1993 -- a year after
\nshe first came to Jakarta -- until they were separated three
\nyears later.<\/p>\n
Unexplained serious bruising on her son's face after a visit
\nto his father, and the kidnapping of the children with an ensuing
\npolice chase through South Jakarta, put an end to any pretense of
\nan amicable civil separation.<\/p>\n
\"I was terrified to divorce a violent husband who neglected
\nthe children and provided nothing for our family.\"<\/p>\n
Finally, friends came to her rescue, got her a good lawyer and
\nensured she got a divorce and custody of the children in 1998.<\/p>\n
However, the school she managed was destroyed in the May 1998
\nriots, leaving her without a job, and thus no sponsor, and she
\nhad to leave the country.<\/p>\n
\"But my children had been born and raised there. I loved
\nJakarta. My friends in Jakarta had become my family. Indonesia
\nwas very much where my children and I belonged even if my
\nmarriage was over,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Sue had tried to become an Indonesian citizen, but it was
\ndenied as she was no longer married.<\/p>\n
After going through difficult times, including getting
\narrested by immigration officers, living on a small contribution
\nfrom family and friends, and facing \"some people in positions of
\npower who exploit the weaknesses in the law\", she finally moved
\nback to London with her children in mid-2004.<\/p>\n
\"My children are still Indonesian and proud to be so. However,
\nwe are facing the reality that within the next year, they will
\nhave to become British as Indonesian law will not allow them to
\nhave dual nationality.<\/p>\n
\"My youngest son in particular has cried when told that he
\nmust change his nationality because I have always taught them to
\nbe proud of their Indonesian birth,\" Sue said.<\/p>\n
Despite the implications for women, Sue said that the
\nimplications for men and their children are serious too as
\nincidences of abduction by the Indonesian mother are also
\nfrequent.<\/p>\n
\"I know of three other women who left Indonesia secretly,
\nsometimes forging documents to get away, because they were so
\nscared that in a divorce\/separation they would not be able to
\nkeep their children.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesian mothers disappear in Java and foreign mothers get
\ntheir children out to Singapore and then onwards to other
\ncountries, sometimes with little more than the clothes they stand
\nup in. And this is not an exaggeration. If the women had equal
\nrights over their children, or a right of abode after a divorce,
\nthey would not take the children so far away. In the end, despite
\nmy ex-husband's own faults, he has lost contact with his children
\nbecause of my fear of losing my children.\"<\/p>\n
With the House of Representatives working to revise the law,
\nSue said she hoped that the amended legislation would provide
\nassurances for everyone in mixed nationality families that they
\nare legally part of Indonesian society and have a right to live
\nand work for the benefit of their families and society.<\/p>\n
\"I also hope for the recognition of a tenet of other
\nIndonesian legislation, which I believe reads that men and women
\nhave equal legal rights in Indonesia.\"<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/citizenship-rules-need-revision-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}