RI passport to have new design

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government launched on Monday a new design for the Indonesian passport, produced with advanced printing technology, in a bid to prevent passport forgery that has been deemed to have endangered national security.

For the same reason, the government also plans to issue another new design of the passport next year, which will contain the holder's fingerprints, face print and retina print on the last page in a move to meet security standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The ICAO, according to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, requires all countries to issue passports with the above by 2009 at the latest.

Beginning April 1, Indonesians will be able to get the newly designed passports at home, while those living abroad can apply for ones by May 1. Others who hold current passports can use them until they expire, but they are also permitted to make new ones.

The government promised not to raise the fees for new passports, which are set at Rp 110,000 (US$11.8) for a 24-page passport and Rp 255,000 for a 48-page one.

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told a news conference here on Monday that the current passport design issued in 1997 did not meet ICAO security standards.

He said the newly designed passports would be able to help prevent cases of forgery and reduce the possibility of citizens having more than one passport.

"It is also our commitment to consider a passport a state document, which must not be forged under any circumstances," he said.

The minister said the current passports were prone to forgery. He did not elaborate further. Nor did his office provide details on how forgery cases had endangered national security.

However, elderly cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, the spiritual leader of Jamaah Islamiyah terror group, was once jailed for passport forgery.

The cover of the new passport bears an embossed Indonesian flag as well as orange color text that reads Republic of Indonesia, and the symbol of Garuda that will be phosphoresced in yellow under ultraviolet light.

The first and last page contains significant improvements, including a serial number produced by laser technology.

In the data page, it features a machine-readable zone, which is provided specially for a passport identification machine.

"It would not be easy to forge it. But should there be a forgery case, the criminal will be subject to the 1992 Immigration Law that carries a maximum penalty of five years," Hamid said, adding that the passport contains more undisclosed technology in its format for security purposes.

Iman Santoso, who heads the immigration office, explained that the newly designed passport would be only good for one individual.

Currently, a child can also be named in his or her parent's passport. A wife is also allowed to be named in her spouse's passport according to the existing regulation.

"The principle of having individual passport-holders will be applied because the government is working on a single identification number. If it is applied, the number of a citizen's ID card would be the same as that of the passport," Iman said.