Govt makes another SBKRI promise
Govt makes another SBKRI promise
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Chinese-Indonesians in Jakarta will no longer need
to show their Republic of Indonesia Citizenship Certificates
(SBKRI) when arranging their official documents,
Governor Sutiyoso says.
Sutiyoso's reassurance comes eight years after the first
declaration by former president Soeharto saying the document was
no longer required in government bureaucracy.
Despite declarations and calls by presidents since then, local
bodies throughout the country have continued to ask for the
certificate, in what rights groups say is a bid to extort illegal
fees from ethnic Chinese-Indonesian citizens.
Jakarta would stop such procedures in line with policies in
the Semarang and Surakarta administrations, both in Central Java,
and Batam in Riau, Sutiyoso said at City Hall on Tuesday.
"We will immediately stop the procedure that Chinese descents
must show their SBKRI when arranging documents. I support the
policy (made by other cities)," he said.
For more than three decades, Chinese descents have been
required to show their SBKRI whenever they apply for official
documents -- from birth certificates, ID cards, passports and
even death certificates.
The issuance of Presidential Decree No. 6/1996 by former
president Soeharto officially annulled the requirement for
Chinese-Indonesians and their descendants. It was later backed up
by Presidential Instruction No. 4/1999 by former president
Abdurrahman Wahid, while during her term, president Megawati
Soekarnoputri also called on officials to stop asking for the
document.
However, bureaucrats, including the city administration
offices here, still routinely demand the SBKRI during
applications.
"On-duty officers at the Immigration Office asked me to show
my SBKRI when I arranged my passport. I told them that I don't
have one because my parents already have the certificates but
they insisted," a 30-year-old Chinese Indonesian, Maria
Margaretha, said.
Maria said she had put off her plans to get a passport until
today.
She said the requirement to show the SBKRI was only the tip of
the iceberg of the discrimination against Chinese-Indonesians in
government institutions.
"When I applied for my marriage document and my son's birth
certificate, I had to pay higher administration fees because they
said I was Chinese," she said.
Other Chinese descendants, including Olympics badminton gold
medalists Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma and world badminton
champion Hendrawan have had similar experiences.
Prior to the Athens Olympics in August, Susi and Alan were
required to produce their SBKRIs by the immigration department
although they were representing Indonesia as Olympic torch
bearers.
Despite the presidential decrees Hendrawan ended up getting
his SBKRI in 2002, after Megawati personally intervened in his
case.
Chinese-Indonesian property tycoon Ciputra said he had also
experienced discrimination dealing with the public sector. "My ID
card still has the 09 code, showing that I am a Chinese-
Indonesian."
Batam Mayor Nyat Kadir in August spearheaded the latest
initiative to stop his officials demanding the certificate.