Stateless and discriminated against in their country<\/p>\n
Hendrawan is perhaps Indonesia's best-known sportsman. Olympic
\nBadminton silver medalist in Sydney 2000 and World Champion in
\n2001 he has stood tall on the podium, and proudly listened \"his\"
\nnational anthem being played. Yet he only recently received his
\ncitizenship certificate (SBKRI) after direct intervention by
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri.<\/p>\n
But Hendrawan is lucky. Antonius Budi Irianto, the men's
\ndoubles bronze medalists at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with Denny
\nKantono, has been waiting for 12 years. Like him, an estimated
\n110,000 people are somehow still \"stateless\".<\/p>\n
The problem of statelessness in Indonesian refers exclusively
\nto the Chinese minority, and due to turns and twists of
\nsituations, it has now reached paradoxical depths, involving
\nseveral generations of people.<\/p>\n
Its roots lay in the different criteria adopted by China and
\nIndonesia in granting citizenship. China grants it on the grounds
\nof blood, while Indonesia on the grounds of territory. After the
\ndeclaration of Independence many Chinese-Indonesians found
\nthemselves with dual citizenship.<\/p>\n
In 1960, the two countries agreed to solve the issue and the
\nChinese-Indonesians were called to choose. And here is where the
\nproblem started.<\/p>\n
The choices were limited to Communist China and Indonesia.
\nTaiwan was not an option. Some Chinese-Indonesians left the
\ncountry, most opted for Indonesian citizenship while many others
\ndeclined to claim any. The reasons are varied: affiliation with
\nTaiwan, ignorance, negligence or even economic difficulties.<\/p>\n
The result was a mass of people that had no legal status in
\nreference to citizenship.<\/p>\n
But this is not all. Currently in Indonesia, from the time
\ntheir birth certificate is issued with a mandatory stamp,
\ndenoting their ethnicity, Chinese-Indonesians are forced to prove
\ntheir citizenship in several circumstances.<\/p>\n
In order to do so, the SBKRI certificate was devised.<\/p>\n
Every Chinese upon reaching 17, is\/was requested to apply for
\none.<\/p>\n
Here is the second paradox. To obtain a passport you need to
\nprovide your father's SBKRI document and not your own. On this
\nbasis, Hendrawan, whose father had opted for the Indonesian
\ncitizenship, had no problems. But he never applied for the SBKRI
\ncertificate himself. Recently, in order to obtain his daughter's
\nbirth certificate he had to produce his citizenship certificate
\nand then...problems.<\/p>\n
Farcically, we have reached a situation where we have a three-
\nlayer \"stateless\" problem.<\/p>\n
The first involves the original generation that failed to make
\nthe choice.<\/p>\n
The second involves the children of those who opted for the
\nIndonesian citizenship but failed to apply for the SBKRI at 17
\n(like Hendrawan).<\/p>\n
The third involves these people's children who are requested
\nto produce their father's SBKRI (like Hendrawan's daughter).<\/p>\n
What makes the situation even more ridiculous is that
\npresidential decree No. 52\/1997 stipulates that the SBKRI is no
\nlonger required. We are living in a situation where, while
\nlegally the document is not necessary, in reality it is still
\ndemanded by most government bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
Chinese-Indonesians are still required to provide the document
\nwhen they apply for certain facilities such as banks loans,
\npolice clearance and passports. Some universities still ask
\nstudents to provide it upon enrollment.<\/p>\n
Corruption and discrimination still keep the SBKRI
\nartificially alive. Under-the-table \"fees\" are estimated to start
\nat around US$500, but are often far higher. Still - paying is not
\na guarantee - Hendrawan's older brother applied over 20 years ago
\nand paying the \"market\" rate a few times over, has proven
\ninsufficient.<\/p>\n
Like most newly independent countries in Southeast Asia,
\nIndonesia, is faced with two problems: ethnicity and nation
\nbuilding. Maintaining 62 discriminatory laws in its Constitution
\nis not a step in the right direction. Eliminating them would
\nsolve several other problems at the source, including the plight
\nof the Chinese. Otherwise I doubt that the remaining 110,000 or
\nso pseudo-stateless will have the privilege of direct
\npresidential intervention and the concept of nationhood will
\ncontinue to be nothing but empty rhetoric. -- Fabio Scarpello<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stateless-and-discriminated-against-in-their-country-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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