Indonesian marital law

Indonesian marital law

The last few weeks I have followed the discussion about
foreign men marrying Indonesian women.

As I myself am a Dutchman newly married to an Indonesian
woman, the discussion was quite interesting. First I want to
thank Mr Hario Subayu for his explanation on visas, although some
points, which could make the point of view of the immigration
department more clear, are not mentioned yet.

As I married in Indonesia under Indonesian law, I noticed a
few things. The base of the Indonesian marital laws are the Dutch
marital laws of the 1870's and 1910's, which have, as a basic
rule, "wife follows husband."

In these laws the wife becomes automatically subordinate to
her husband the moment she marries. The consequence is that she
has to ask her husband's permission for all her dealings. Another
consequence is that children follow the nationality of the
father, which is an old interpretation of Ius Sanguinis.

Another consequence is that in case of separation or divorce,
the children automatically are granted to the father,
irrespective of social consequences.

The "wife follows husband" rule is also the base of the
Indonesian immigration act and this is why Indonesian immigration
laws are discriminating for women.

The modern version of the Ius Sanguinis rule is already
explained in M. Sean's letter on March 13, 1995, which says that
Ius Sanguinis applies when both parents are foreigners, who give
birth to a child in a foreign country.

Nowadays, the Netherlands and many other nations have updated
their laws. As the old laws were discriminating for women, the
new base of all laws has become "Equal rights for man and woman"
and therefore consequently for husband and wife.

Also the children follow the nationality of the mother, for
one thing is sure, children are born out of the mother (probably
this was also the base of the Minangkabau matrilinear inheritance
tradition). Later children have the opportunity to get the
father's nationality if they wish to.

I think I can enhance the opinion of Mrs Sherisada Manaf that
it is strange that there is no place for Indonesian women in
their own country if they are married with a foreigner. I think
Indonesian women married with foreigners can contribute as much
as foreign women married with Indonesian men.

Please consider that the base of this problem, "wife follows
husband", is not the problem of some individuals, but of at least
fifty percent of the Indonesian community, the women.

I sincerely hope that while at this moment the Indonesian
Government is renewing the old Dutch laws, they will also
reconsider the laws that discriminate woman and that the new laws
will give women an equal place in society.

EGBERT MONE

Bekasi, West Java