RI's Immigration Laws: Why does nobody care?

Nuning Hallett, Jakarta

It was interesting to read the news report about President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's meeting his fellow countrymen during last month's visit to Chile for the APEC summit.

The article said that Santi Alvarez, an Indonesian woman married to a Chilean man, left her home country because the couple could not continue to pay immigration fees for her foreign husband. In Chile, Santi asked Susilo to review the Citizenship Law, especially the article on mixed marriages. The President responded positively and promised to take a close look at this matter.

However, what was interesting was Susilo's lack of awareness about the law, as revealed in his question to Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda: "What does the law say?"

He is not alone in this. In 2002, then state minister of women's empowerment Sri Redjeki responded in the same manner when I and other friends from mixed-couple organizations handed her a proposal to review the Citizenship Law.

The case was the same with the Department of Women's Studies Postgraduate Program at the University of Indonesia, the staff of which were surprised when told about implications of this law.

Thus far, all that people have heard about mixed-marriage problems concerns only cases of deportation.

It is understandable why people do not pay too much attention to this: The Citizenship Law only affects minority groups like Indonesians of Chinese descent and the now-defunct but still "unofficially" required Indonesian Citizenship Certificate (SBKRI) and mixed-marriage couples. Even though these groups are a small percentage of the population, they are also Indonesian citizens who must be treated equally before the law.

Revising the Citizenship Law is urgent, because too many have already fallen victim to this discriminatory legislation and for several other reasons.

First, the number of Indonesians marrying foreigners is increasing. According to the Jakarta Census Bureau, 878 Indonesians have married foreigners in Jakarta alone over the last 3 years.

Second, problems have arisen from a clause in Law No. 62/58 on citizenship, which mandates that offspring of a mixed marriage between an Indonesian woman and a foreign man take the nationality of their father. Related problems concern immigration procedures, social rights and the inability of the Indonesian wife to sponsor her husband so they can take up permanent residence in Indonesia.

The implications of this discriminatory law have become more severe since the beginning of the economic crisis in 1997, when many expatriate men lost their jobs and corporate sponsorship of their immigration status at the same time. Such men had to change their visas from the usual Temporary Stay Permit, or KITAS, to a Cultural/Social (Sosial Budaya) Visa, which is sponsored by a resident of Indonesia and must be renewed every month for a maximum of six months. After this six-month period, the individual must reapply for the visa -- through an Indonesian mission abroad.

Imagine that a mixed-marriage couple has two children, and according to Indonesian law, the children are foreign citizens. This means the couple must spend almost Rp 2 million in monthly extensions and go abroad every six months -- all while there is no income, perhaps because the husband's multinational left the country.

Some couples facing this situation have been forced to move abroad, like Santi Alvarez, and other marriages have ended in divorce.

The irony of this immigration issue is illustrated by the following incident: The British husband of a friend was conferred in 2000 the Bintang Jasa Pratama, "In appreciation of his great contributions to Indonesia", from then president Abdurrahman Wahid. Recently, this man took early retirement so he could concentrate on helping develop the country's human resources through education. Despite this, he found himself stuck with immigration procedures that forced him to leave the country to renew his visa every month, and his Indonesian wife was unable to sponsor his stay. Thus, he decided to move to Malaysia -- a great loss for Indonesia.

A more complicated immigration issue occurs when an Indonesian woman marries a foreign national from a negara rawan, or fragile country, or from a country that has no diplomatic ties with Indonesia. Such people cannot renew their visa in Malaysia or Singapore, but must go as far away as the country closest to their own that has diplomatic relations with Indonesia.

They are also ineligible for KITAS, even though they may have a large business here that employs hundreds of Indonesian workers.

There are many more such cases and the current Citizenship Law may foster other unexpected scenarios if it is not changed to anticipate the increase in global relationships -- which may turn into a mixed marriage.

The writer is Suara Perempuan Indonesia Coordinator and former coordinator of the Indonesian Mixed-Couple Club (Indo-MC) for Asia from 2002-2003. She can be reached at nspurwaningrum@cbn.net.id.