Outdated laws

Outdated laws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 According to the article, outdated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Indonesia's outdated colonial Dutch-based immigration law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