House to debate citizenship bill

House to debate citizenship bill

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dual citizenship, equal rights for mothers over their children's
citizenship and flexible regulations for mixed couples will be
among topics raised in the House of Representatives' debate over
the citizenship bill.

The House unanimously agreed on Tuesday to deliberate the bill
on citizenship and proposed amendments to the military tribunal
law with the government.

Inter-Nations Rainbow Alliance -- a forum campaigning for the
elimination of discriminatory regulations against mixed couples
and their children -- said the prevailing law contradicted the
United Nations Convention on Human Rights, Law No. 7/1984 on the
elimination of discrimination against women, and Law No. 23/2002
on child protection.

Dewi Tjakrawinata, an executive of the alliance that groups
about 4,000 mixed parents here, said Law No. 62/1958 on
Indonesian citizenship, which remains effective, basically denies
mixed couples and their children the opportunity to live as a
"complete family".

"There are many problems in the law. For an Indonesian woman
married to an expatriate, their children automatically get the
father's citizenship no matter what. If the father can't work
here, he can't stay, thus disabling the family from living a
normal life.

"From the side of a female expatriate, she can't get a formal
job here, thus she can't contribute to a family's income. To get
a job, she needs sponsorship from a company, which obliges the
company to pay extra taxes to employ her," she added.

Dewi said the law left no room for wives to advocate their
rights when problems were encountered.

"(An Indonesian) wife can't claim her children because of
their foreign citizenship if a divorce takes place. On the other
side, (an Indonesian) husband can easily take his sponsorship
over his wife back and force her to return to her country, and
leave her children behind," she said.

Furthermore, the wife of an expatriate cannot bequeath her
wealth to her children, Dewi said.

Dual citizenship, an option for the citizens of many developed
countries, is also being proposed to legislators because it
provides children or mixed couples with greater employment
opportunities and equal treatment.

"You can't make a child pick their citizenship because it
means you take away half or part of their real identity. The
United Nations Convention on Child Protection stipulates that
children are entitled to their parents' identities," she said.

Dewi acknowledged objections would mount against the
proposals, but expressed guarded optimism that House members were
more empathic regarding the issue than previous lawmakers.

"Lawmakers in the past used to blame us for marrying
expatriates or expatriates for marrying Indonesians. This is an
era of globalization where encounters between citizens (of
different countries) are inevitable," she said.

Dewi said at least 300 new mixed marriages were registered in
Jakarta alone annually.

She underlined that dual citizenship did not mean a person's
nationalism faded.

"I could just switch my citizenship to French, like my
husband's, but I don't want to simply because I refuse to let go
-- even if it's just administrative -- of my Indonesian roots.
And I want my kids to be the same way," she said.