Yusril floats idea of dual citizenship

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra is floating the idea of dual citizenship, something which previous governments had never even considered.

Yusril, a constitutional law expert, began considering the idea during his recent visit to Los Angeles and Washington, where he received complaints from Indonesians living there, especially as it concerned citizenship issues.

Indonesia recognizes only single citizenship. So, if one is an Indonesian citizen and wants to become a citizen of another country, it is required that the Indonesian citizenship be given up.

The Indonesian system also complicates citizenship of the children when an Indonesian marries a foreigner, which has a bizarre double standard depending on sex.

The child of an Indonesian woman married to a foreign man cannot become an Indonesian and will have the father's citizenship, however, if a foreign woman marries an Indonesian man she and their children are eligible for citizenship.

Yusril said the government considered amending Law No. 62/1958 on citizenship to allow Indonesians to have dual citizenship.

"This is just an idea," he said. "Twenty years ago, if you talked about having dual citizenship your patriotism would be questioned."

When and if the law is amended, an adult Indonesian will have the freedom to have one or two citizenships.

"The law will be designed so that it would be easy for Indonesians to regain their citizenship," he said.

Yusril added that almost 20,000 Indonesians have overstayed in the U.S. and their citizenship status was unclear. --JP