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.