Harassment of women

From Kompas

An article in Kompas on Aug. 28 titled: The presence of an Alien in the House has attracted my attention. The article details the aspects of immigration requirements and refers to the case of Andreya Masaru Miyakoshi, the child of an Indonesian subject Kristia Yuliani, 28, from her marriage to Mitsuo Miyakoshi, 49, a Japanese national.

Mitsuo is facing deportation. According to the prevailing regulations his child Andreya is also threatened with deportation. The article said it is not surprising because there was a precedent, that of Samantha, the child of an Indonesian mother and a Dutch father.

In my opinion the cases are shocking. The regulations are a harassment of women's basic rights; they subject women to outdated laws which favor men. The regulations have to be changed.

An Indonesian woman gives birth to a child in Indonesia. Afterwards the child must be deported to a foreign country against the mother's wishes, because her husband is not Indonesian. Can our conscience justify it? Is it proper for this to happen in an era where we speak loudly of gender equality, equal rights between men and women?

Let us persuade the authorities to take action so that Andreya can stay with her mother in Indonesia. The mother is an Indonesian born in Indonesia. Andreya must not be chased out of this country.

MASRI SINGARIMBUN

Yogyakarta