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.