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55 year-old man, Yousuf (not his real name), believes that being a Pakistani is hard.

“I think discrimination against Pakistanis is not only in Indonesia, but across the globe,” he said, adding that even insurance companies were discriminating against Pakistanis.

Indonesia has listed Pakistan on its ”red list” of 13 countries. Visitors to Indonesia from these countries require approval from a joint clearing house before obtaining a visa. The clearing house comprises the police, military, immigration office, intelligence agency and related ministries.

Yousuf said that Pakistan’s negative image was caused by many terrorism cases linked to his home country.

However, Yousuf said he did not regret being a Pakistani, adding that his Indonesian wife loved him just the way he was.

 “My wife knows that being married to someone like me will involve many obstacles,” he said.

This mixed couple decided to get married in 2005. At that time, Yousuf said he was broke after his company became bankrupt.

According to Yousuf, his wife asked him to marry her even though he was not rich like before.

“We have known each other for a long time,“ he said.

As they were told by the religious affairs office (KUA) that they had to pay Rp 2 million (US$218) for the religious ceremony and another Rp 5 million for the marriage certificate, they decided they need not ask for the certificate.

However, after his wife became pregnant two years later, Yousuf realized his child would need
the certificate and contacted the KUA again.

“They agreed to issue the certificate for Rp 2 million, with the condition that we must go through the wedding ceremony again. This was ridiculous,” he said with a laugh. He finally agreed to the condition.

Yousuf’s story may appear amusing, but it was a grueling process to gain the certificate, going back and forth to various officials.

“Actually, this treatment is normal for foreigners,” said Yousuf, who has been living in Indonesia for 25 years. For Pakistanis, he said, acquiring
a marriage certificate was still simpler than arranging for a temporary stay permit (KITAS) from the immigration office. He concluded that greed was behind all the difficulties in processing documents here, apart from Pakistan being among the ”red list” countries.

“I am a Pakistani, but I’ve seen officials also ask for more money from other foreigners. So, they treat us all the same,” he said.

Based on the new Immigration Law no 6/2011, now Yousouf can process his KITAS easily with his wife’s sponsorship. With an Indonesian wife, he also said he no longer endured suspicion from government officials, despite his country being placed on the red list.

However he said he was confused by what he saw as contradictory laws regarding his permit to work.

“The Immigration Law allows us to work here for the family; on the other hand the manpower regulation forbids us to do so,” said Yousuf. The Manpower Law limits expatriates’ job opportunities to positions where no Indonesians are found to be qualified in a certain company. However, the Immigration Law allows expatriates to work and to conduct business.

Rulita Anggraini, who chairs the Indonesian Mixed Marriage Society, PerCa, said a government regulation was urgent to clear the confusion.

Fortunately, Yousouf said that his wife’s income from her business, which he did not detail, could adequately support him and the children.

Yousuf is planning to switch his nationality to Indonesian.

“By converting my nationality, it will be easy to me to stay in Indonesia with my wife and my children,” he said.

He added that when he gained Indonesian citizenship, he wanted to buy a house for his family.

— JP/Nani Afrida