Discriminative immigration laws<\/p>\n
Sometime ago, my wife Elis Suminar asked the Ministry of
\nJustice why there was gender discrimination in immigration laws
\nand why it was so difficult for Indonesian legislators to start a
\nnational debate recognizing the benefits of dual nationality. Mr.
\nA. Ghani of the Directorate General of Immigration informed us
\nthat immigration laws followed Indonesian marriage laws, which
\nwere patriarchal.<\/p>\n
This is pure nonsense. Why? Western marriage laws also follow
\nthe same pattern since children automatically take the family
\nname of their fathers. However, Western immigration laws grant a
\nstay permit to all foreigners married to Westerners. After five
\nyears in Belgium, these foreigners can even become Belgian
\ncitizens without losing their citizenship in their home country.
\nOf course, this is only possible between two countries accepting
\nthe principle of dual nationality.<\/p>\n
Mr. Ghani also contradicts his own government, because
\nIndonesia signed the United Nations antidiscrimination charter a
\nfew months ago. Is he aware of this? Moreover, no immigration
\nofficers would dare to come up with such a justification in a
\nface-to-face meeting, and certainly not if they were good Muslims
\nor Christians (any religion is against discrimination, as
\nAbdurrahman Wahid often insists). The truth is that most civil
\nservants are embarrassed by these unfair laws they have to apply.
\nAt the end of our contracts, they know that Western men often
\nstay here at the requests of their Indonesian wives.<\/p>\n
Now, the Directorate General of Immigration and the
\nlegislators, under the urging of President Habibie, have
\nincreased our immigration fees by fourfold. The members of the
\nnational commission who worked on these new fees have a stunning
\nsense of social justice and fairness. Paradoxically, in his
\nnational speech on Aug. 17, President Habibie said he wanted to
\n\"eliminate all forms of gender bias in laws\". To say it is one
\nthing, to do it is another thing. It is our hope that civil
\nservants' salaries will also be increased by fourfold, unless raw
\nmaterial is more important than human resources in this country.<\/p>\n
As a result, my family of four, including three Belgians, is
\nso fed up with the constant harassment, costs and discriminative
\nrules, we have no choice but return to Belgium next year. This
\nwill cost my wife and two kids, who hold KITAS, Rp 3,000,000 in
\nairport tax.<\/p>\n
People taxed by any administration in this world should have a
\ntax number, and no child in any country is supposed to be taxed.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is a smiling and welcoming country. Its immigration
\nofficers and laws should reflect this spirit. Respect all
\nforeigners married to Indonesian citizens by allowing them to
\nhave a stay permit, and give the kids (at the least) access to
\ndual nationality. In this era of openness and globalization that
\neverybody is praising during national seminars and workshops,
\nthis would seem the only step to take for everybody who has a
\ngood heart.<\/p>\n
YVAN MAGAIN<\/p>\n
Bandung<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/discriminative-immigration-laws-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }