Mixed marriages: Law hurts happiness<\/p>\n
Hera Diani and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
Marrying foreigners may mean more love and happiness for many,
\nfinancial security for others, in addition to the prospect of
\nhaving beautiful children of mixed blood who someday may become
\nmodels or actors.<\/p>\n
The reality is, while happiness and love exist in many long-
\nlasting mixed marriages, security is lost the moment an
\nIndonesian woman marries a man of another nationality.<\/p>\n
Based on Law No. 62\/1958 on citizenship, an Indonesian woman
\ncannot act as a sponsor for the visas of her expatriate husband
\nand their children, and thus if the husband cannot work here, he
\ncannot stay either, thus preventing the family from living a
\nnormal life.<\/p>\n
An Indonesian wife cannot claim her children if a divorce
\ntakes place as children of a mixed marriage automatically adopt
\nthe father's citizenship.<\/p>\n
Sukaedah Kumaidi Better, 34, said that she lives in constant
\nfear that she is going to lose her children or her French husband
\nover the citizenship issue.<\/p>\n
\"Nobody wants a divorce. But even without divorce, my husband
\nhas to leave once his contract is over... my children have to
\nleave once they are 18 years old,\" she said.<\/p>\n
For the past eight years, Sukaedah's family has had to go back
\nand forth to Singapore to renew her husband's and children's
\nvisa, which she said is time consuming and costly.<\/p>\n
\"I am not asking for citizenship for my husband, but at least
\nthe government could cut us some slack so that he and my children
\ndo not have to renew their visa every few months.\"<\/p>\n
Dewi Tjakrawinata, an executive of an alliance that groups
\nabout 4,000 couples in mixed marriages here, said that the
\ncitizenship law basically denies mixed couples and their children
\nthe opportunity to live as a \"complete family\".<\/p>\n
Married to a French man, she said she could not sponsor his
\nhusband to stay even though she has a career and her own money.<\/p>\n
\"To keep their children from becoming expatriates, many
\nIndonesian women don't even bother to register their marriages.
\nThe children's birth certificate then says that they were born
\nout of wedlock, and thus they automatically gain their mother's
\ncitizenship,\" said Dewi.<\/p>\n
However, it then creates another problem as the child is
\nstigmatized for being born out of wedlock.<\/p>\n
A wife of an expatriate cannot bequeath her wealth to her
\nchildren either if she dies, while the children only have a year
\nto sell the property of the mother.<\/p>\n
An expatriate woman, repeating an immigration officer, said
\nthat the government would hunt down the children of expatriate
\nfathers and expel them once they were 18; barely an adult.<\/p>\n
Dewi said that the state tends to blame people for marrying
\nexpatriates.<\/p>\n
\"This is an era of globalization where encounters between
\ncitizens of different countries are inevitable,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"The expatriates and their children should be seen as a state
\nasset.\"<\/p>\n
There is no record of the number of mixed marriages in the
\ncountry. In Jakarta alone, however, there are at least 300 new
\nmixed marriages registered annually -- not to mention those who
\ndo not register their marriages.<\/p>\n
Problems also occur in small towns or border towns, where many
\nwomen undergo contractual marriages. As most of them are less
\neducated, many do not know about the law. But once the marriage
\ncontract is over, their children face deportation, while many of
\nthe fathers refuse to recognize them.<\/p>\n
Even in other countries that do not recognize dual
\ncitizenship, there are special regulations for children of mixed
\ncouples.<\/p>\n
She underlined that dual citizenship did not mean a person's
\nnationalism faded.<\/p>\n
\"I could just adopt French citizenship, like my husband's, but
\nI don't want to simply because I refuse to let go -- even if it's
\njust administrative -- of my Indonesian roots. And I want my
\nchildren to be the same way,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Another story that has been told is that some Indonesian women
\nwere left penniless when their foreign husband died suddenly.<\/p>\n
Still, the women were expected to get visas in Singapore for
\ntheir children and send them to an international school, which is
\nvery expensive, during the lengthy process to make their children
\nIndonesian citizens.<\/p>\n
News that the House of Representatives is currently reviewing
\nthe law has given new hope for mixed marriages, but a women's
\nrights activist and legislator from the National Awakening Party
\n(PKB), Nursyahbani Katjasungkana, has expressed concern that
\ndeliberation of the revision would not be completed \"in just one
\nday\".<\/p>\n
\"Well, actually, the legislators' plan to review the bill has
\nbeen in process for years, but the goodwill to really correct the
\nbill has just come to their minds in the past year.<\/p>\n
\"Aimed at encouraging my fellow legislators to revise the Law,
\nI shared ideas about problems which have been raised due to this
\ndiscriminative and gender-biased law in June of this year. My
\nfellow legislators agreed to speed up the deliberation of the
\ndraft revision, but I wonder why the bill is not among 55 pieces
\nof legislation that should be finalized by this year,\"
\nNursyahbani told the Post.<\/p>\n
Maggie Agusta, 56, said that the government was not even
\ntransparent about the law, as she would have gotten the
\ncitizenship if she had known about it.<\/p>\n
\"The law is fairly clear; there is lack of transparency.\"<\/p>\n
Now, even after living here for over two decades, she has
\nencountered trouble in getting Indonesian citizenship, as there
\nwas a period when she had to go back to the United States due to
\nhealth problems.<\/p>\n
\"You have expatriate women and men.. many are very educated
\nand have expertise. They may be better off in their own country.
\nBut we have commitment and expertise and are willing to
\ncontribute.<\/p>\n
\"I'm nearly 60 years old, I had grown up a lot in Indonesia.
\nIt changed me profoundly. I don't fit anywhere else in the world.
\nThis is my home,\" Agusta said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mixed-marriages-law-hurts-happiness-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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