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