Discrimination against ethnic Chinese persists

Discrimination against ethnic Chinese persists

By Tertiani Z.B. Simanjuntak

JAKARTA (JP): The government's efforts to end official
discrimination against Chinese-Indonesians are being hampered by
inconsistent policies regarding the so-called Indonesian
citizenship certificate.

Although Presidential Decree No. 52/1997 stipulates that the
certificate, known as SBKRI, is no longer required, Chinese-
Indonesians are still required to provide the document when they
apply for certain facilities, such as bank loans, police
clearance and passports. Some universities also require ethnic
Chinese to submit the document upon enrollment.

They are being asked to show evidence of their citizenship
even though it is clearly stated on their ID cards that they are
Indonesians.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra
questioned this inconsistency last week. He said there was no
reason why some officials still asked for the SKBRI.

"In the next few days, we will issue a circular to remind them
that the nationality certificate is no longer needed and should
not be asked for.

"I think this contradictory policy regarding the certificate
is caused by poor communication among departments," he said.

Nonnative Indonesians, mostly ethnic Chinese, plus some ethnic
Indians and Arabs, were obliged to obtain a SKBRI as evidence of
their Indonesian citizenship.

The policy was considered a way "to ensure legal certainty" to
differentiate them from aliens in the country.

The government campaign to eradicate policies that
discriminate against Chinese-Indonesians was strengthened by
Presidential Decree No. 6/2000 issued by President Abdurrahman
Wahid.

This 2000 decree revoked Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967,
which required special permits to perform the rites and rituals
associated with Chinese beliefs and culture.

People are now free to celebrate the Chinese New Year, as well
as having the right to honor their beliefs and culture and use
their Chinese names.

However, many Chinese-Indonesians still feel discriminated
against.

The Jakarta-based Kompas daily reported on Jan. 21 that a
Chinese-Indonesian, Benyamin Eddy, was required by the Central
Jakarta Mayoralty to show his Indonesian citizenship certificate
when he applied for a birth certificate for his 6-week-old
daughter on Jan. 10.

A 32-year-old woman, Susan, told the daily that she uses an
agent to arrange her visas and other official documents because
it is more difficult if she, a Chinese-Indonesian, applies for
the documents herself.

The justice ministry's director of public institutions, Ramly
Hutabarat, said his office continued to receive some 1,000
applications for the nationality certificate each month, much
less than the 4,000 applications per month in 1999.

Ramly said 95 percent of the applications were filed by
Chinese-Indonesians.

"We are the ones who have the authority to issue the
certificates after we assess the applications, which are filed
with local district courts. The courts later hand the
certificates to the applicants.

"Although having the certificate is no longer compulsory, we
still receive many applications and we cannot refuse to asses
them," he said.

He admitted his office continued to process the applications
because some institutions still required the certificate.

Ramly argued that issuing the citizenship certificate was not
a form of discrimination, but was simply meant to secure the
legal rights of all citizens.

He said an applicant must wait six months for the certificate
to be issued because of the bureaucracy involved, a bureaucracy
seen by most as corrupt.

"The courts should not be involved in citizenship affairs,
which are under our jurisdiction. I also often receive complaints
from applicants of bribery during the process and I have taken
strict measures against the culprits," Ramly said.

He said the inconsistency in the government's policy on the
certificate was caused by the failure to inform people of the
details of the 1997 presidential decree.

Ramly said the government would review the necessity of the
certificate, but if it was done away with it should be revoked
through a law because a decree is not sufficient for such an
"important" issue.

"Politically, the certificate is not necessary, but in
contrast to the government campaign (to eradicate
discrimination), sociologically it is still needed by the
people," he said.

Ramly's superior at the ministry, Director General of Law and
Legislation Romli Atmasasmita, said his office currently is
revising Law No. 62/1958 on citizenship.

"In the revised law, we will strengthen the point that we do
not acknowledge dual nationality and that there should be no
discrimination against any citizen," he said.