Citizenship certificates

Citizenship certificates

In your article titled Stateless Chinese dream of basic rights
on Oct. 6, 2002, it was heartening to see the Post challenge the
stereotypes and discrimination faced by many ordinary Chinese-
Indonesians.

This is extremely important because a more just and
pluralistic society is a necessary precondition for a
stable, strong and prosperous Indonesia.

As an addition to your article, I believe the legality of the
ongoing practice of requiring Chinese-Indonesians to obtain
citizenship certificates (SBKRI), often at great expense, should
be more aggressively questioned by the media. As the Post's
article rightly pointed out, Soeharto abolished the SBKRI
requirement by presidential decree in 1996. This decree was
strengthened when the Habibie government signed an international
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination in 1999.

Former president Abdurrahman Wahid subsequently issued his own
presidential decree to the same effect. Why, then, do mid-level
bureaucrats still demand SBKRI certificates from Chinese-
Indonesians who wish to obtain passports, enroll in some state
universities, or qualify for bank loans? At the national and
local levels, why are dozens of other discriminatory regulations
allowed to remain in effect? These, to me, are questions that
deserve more attention and I hope the Post will pursue them.

TODD CALLAHAN

Jakarta