Indonesians of Chinese descent

Indonesians of Chinese descent

From Media Indonesia

I am very concerned over the report published in Media
Indonesia Nov. 2, 1994 about the 12 thousand Indonesian citizens
of Chinese descent whose citizenship still has to be clarified.
This reminds me of the 1992 case when a great number of
Indonesians of Chinese origin, through the service of Yayasan
Bhakti Suci (a social foundation) in Pontianak, West Kalimantan,
asked for "evidence" certifying that they were Indonesian
citizens by separating their citizenship from that of their
parents. They did not apply for Indonesian citizenship. But,
their application has not been processed properly. There is no
need to find a "scapegoat" on this. In this context I would like
to suggest the following.

* We should abide by, and fully implement, the decision of the
Ministry of Justice which states that the citizenship evidence is
already stated on the birth certificate or the Resident
Identification Card (KTP). So, why must we spend our money for
obtaining the evidence certificate? It will be better to spend
the money to help the poor in West Kalimantan.

* The parents of the applicants have already obtained
Indonesian citizenship. The government just wants to distinguish
Indonesian citizens of Chinese descent from foreign citizens.

* It would be wiser for the authorities not to process the
application for citizenship evidence. Instead, the applicants
should be asked to submit their birth certificates and resident
identification cards only. In this way, the problem can be
solved.

RESTU
Pontianak
West Kalimantan