Outdated laws

I read with interest the article Government to replace 350 laws by end of 1999 (Feb. 22). According to the article, outdated colonial Dutch laws would be replaced. I would like to suggest that the current Indonesian immigration law is one which also needs changing.

The current immigration law allows foreign women married to Indonesian men to stay in Indonesia, but does not allow foreign men married to Indonesian women to stay. Also, children of a marriage between a foreign husband and an Indonesian wife are not granted Indonesian citizenship even if they are born in Indonesia. Children born out of wedlock are granted citizenship even if their father is a foreigner. Under this law, immorality is rewarded while the children of a married couple could potentially be taken from their Indonesian mothers' arms and deported. Any law that allows this to happen is a disgrace to civilized society.

Indonesia's outdated colonial Dutch-based immigration law needs to be changed so that foreigners, both men and women, with Indonesian spouses can stay in Indonesia permanently. Children of these marriages should be able to obtain Indonesian citizenship through either parent, not just the father.

Indonesia's population is 90 percent Moslem. Indonesia's Moslems are part of the Moslem Ummat (community) in which family is very important. Any laws that break up families are contrary to Islamic moral values and have no place in Indonesia or any Moslem country.

KEVIN J. DUNPHY

Bandung, West Java