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.