RI's Immigration Laws: Why does nobody care?

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.