SKBRI not required by Chinese: Mega
SKBRI not required by Chinese: Mega
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has stepped into the controversy
over the plight of Chinese-Indonesians by declaring that they are
no longer required to possess an Indonesian Citizenship
Certificate (SBKRI).
During a meeting with dozens of Indonesian badminton legends,
who are mostly Chinese-Indonesians, Megawati called on all
immigration offices across the country on Wednesday to abide by
the law.
"There is no obligation for Chinese-Indonesians to obtain an
SBKRI if they already have a proper identity card showing that
they are Indonesian citizens," Megawati was quoted as saying by
the chairman of the Indonesian Badminton Federation (PBSI),
Chairul Tandjung.
The meeting was also attended by the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights' director general of immigration, Mochammad Imam
Santoso. The director general, however, failed to make any
comment.
Chinese-Indonesians have often complained that they are still
being asked to produce SBKRIs when applying for passports and
other official documents.
Former president Soeharto actually scrapped the SBKRI policy
in 1996 through presidential decree No. 6/1996.
In 2000, former president Abdurrahman Wahid went further by
scrapping presidential decrees that banned the display of Chinese
culture in the country and limited the movement of Chinese-
Indonesians. He also revoked a decree of the People's
Consultative Assembly on the requirement for SBKRIs.
Citing the absence of ancillary regulations, officials on the
ground continue to require Chinese-Indonesians to produce SBKRIs
when applying for passports or identification cards (KTP).
Chairul said on Wednesday that President Megawati had
instructed the immigration director general to ensure that all
immigration offices would not demand SBKRIs as part of the
requirements for the issuance of Indonesian passports.
"There is no such thing as indigenous and non-indigenous
Indonesians. They (Chinese-Indonesians) are born here and made
many contributions to this country. They are all Indonesian
citizens," the President stressed.
The SBKRI issue last resurfaced when Indonesia's Olympic gold
medalists Alan Budikusuma and Susi Susanti were asked to provide
SBKRIs when they applied to renew their passports.
Alan and Susi are to travel to Athens later this year to carry
the Olympic torch representing Indonesia.
Another badminton player, Hendrawan, had a similar experience
last year, prompting Megawati to intervene.
Many Chinese-Indonesians had hoped, however, that Megawati,
who took over the national leadership in 2001, would take
resolute action against immigration officers who continued to
require SBKRIs.
"What we had been hoping for is that President Megawati would
issue a written instruction saying that SBKRIs were no longer
required to end this issue once and for all," Alan said on
Wednesday.
He expressed the hope that the SBKRI issue would not continue
to cause problems, not only for the badminton players but for all
Chinese-Indonesians.