Visa, work permit and human rights
Visa, work permit and human rights
I refer to the letters of Kevin J. Dunphy (Feb. 28, 1995), George Goring (March 2, 1995) and the "answer" of Hario Subayu (March 6, 1995) to The Jakarta Post and to myself, married to an Indonesian woman since 1977, staying with my family in Indonesia without interruption since 1986 but still classified as sementara (temporary) with all the doubtful benefits of the visa that is referred by Mr Subayu as "No 6."
The recent answer of Mr Hario Subayu of the Public Relations Directorate General of Immigration Jakarta is a brilliant example of that unbelievable mixture of ignorance, technocratism, narrowness, that we have to take when dealing with the various (not only immigration) officials responsible for the implementation process of our stay and work permits in Indonesia.
It's currently by no means a matter of course, that the natural basic right of residence in Indonesia as legally married partners of an Indonesian national is granted equally to both: foreign wives and foreign husbands; whereas the combination of "Indonesian husband and foreign wife" provides the latter (that is not dependent on whether she is an ordinary woman or for example the wife of a member of the current cabinet) in almost no time with a permanent stay and work permit and (if asked for) even with Indonesian nationality, the combination of "Indonesian wife and foreign husband" does not prevent the responsible Indonesian authorities to treat people like Mr Dunphy, Mr Goring and myself the same way as "ordinary" foreigners, for whom Mr Hario Subayu is quite right to list his "6 types of visas."
Although the PR letter from the Immigration Head Office in Jakarta is under the described circumstances an absolute disgrace for Indonesia as a state under the rule of law, I very much appreciate the fact, that it was published promptly by The Jakarta Post: Most interesting is not only what's written in it but what's left out by Mr Hario Subayu.
The letter suggests that there are only 6 types of visas available in Indonesia. What about the "KIM"? (without "S" for sementara-temporary).
Is there no way of naturalisasi (obtaining Indonesian nationality) at all? Prof. Mr. Dr. Sudargo Gautama, the author of Tafsiran Undang-Undang Kewarganegaraan Republik Indonesia has certainly a different opinion on this subject.
We get some information about Jus Sanguinis (the nationality of a person follows the blood and not the territory on which a person is born). Is that so (in Indonesia)? Then the question might be allowed: Whose blood, please? Is the blood of an Indonesian woman who gives birth to a baby fathered by a foreigner regarded as different/inferior compared to the blood of an Indonesian family head?
To obtain the right to stay in Indonesia as a foreign husband of an Indonesian wife is to find a bonafide company to sponsor us.
What are the criteria for "bonafide" and who is determining them?
What is the meaning of "benefit" to the people and country of Indonesia" as one of the conditions for KIM/S-Extensions? Isn't it an awful example of an highly ambiguous/"rubber" option that might change overnight?
What happens, if the company goes bankrupt or there are other conflicts that under normal circumstances mean no threat of to be or not to be for us?
The conclusion is that foreigners who have married Indonesian women have only the right to live together with their wives and children in Indonesia under the unreasonable condition that they become hostages of a so-called "bonafide" company.
And then? What if these unfortunate "foreigners" who meanwhile are no more orang asing here than in their countries of origin have no place to go? What if they stayed long enough in this country that they feel at home and have become one of you in the true sense of the word? Where would you probably dump them?
ULRICH O. ZIMMER
Bandung, West Java