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Simple citizenship process for half-blood Indonesian children sought
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Children proudly hold the flags of their nationalities at an event to commemorate a decade since the 2006 Citizenship Law at the Law and Human Rights Ministry. By law, children of mixed-citizenship marriages are allowed to hold both of their parents' citizenships until they turn 21, when they can hold only one citizenship. (JP/Liza Yosephine)
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group of families with mixed nationalities urged the government to ease the process for Indonesian citizenship for children who missed the opportunity to apply for limited dual citizenship during the four-year window between 2006 to 2010.
"These children who at the time when the law was implemented, did not get the chance to obtain dual citizenship for various reasons, including unawareness from parents of the need to lodge an affidavit for their children's citizenship before the set deadline," Indonesian Mixed-marriage Society (PerCa) head Juliani Luthan said on Thursday.
She referred to the 2006 Citizenship Law which allows all children of mixed-citizenship marriages born since that year and onwards to hold limited dual citizenship. The law stipulates that the beneficiaries must then choose one citizenship once they turn 18, but can hold onto both until the maximum age of 21.
Read also: Dual citizenship brings problems in society
However, children born prior to that year had until August 2010 to obtain an affidavit for Indonesian citizenship, in addition to their foreign one. They are no longer eligible to hold two passports once the deadline had passed. As a result, children born to a foreign father and an Indonesian mother would automatically hold their paternal citizenship. To become an Indonesian, the child must go through the naturalization process as would a foreign national.
"There need to be policies that can simplify the process for the children because as it is, the naturalization process is very complicated and costly, despite them being half Indonesian," Juliani said. She was speaking at an event to commemorate a decade since the 2006 Citizenship Law that was held at the Law and Human Rights Ministry, where she also expressed hope that the event could be used as momentum to call for government action.
PerCa member Ike Farida, a local law expert who is married to a foreign national, pointed out that children would face a more complicated process than their foreign father. As a husband to an Indonesian woman, she said, the process would be simpler and cheaper. For example, Ike continued, the husband would only need to pay Rp 2,5 million (US$189) in administration fees while their children would have to pay Rp 50 million to obtain Indonesian citizenship.
"In relation to the administration process, the government should issue regulations that would differentiate children from mixed marriages as different from pure foreigners," Ike said, adding that many affected children would likely choose to remain a citizen of Indonesia, especially if they had grown up in the country.
The limited dual citizenship for children has been heavily discussed in the public since the recent case of Gloria Natapradja Hamel, who was famously dismissed from the prestigious flag-hoisting team (Paskibraka), for the State Palace's Independence Day celebration, for holding a French passport.
She was later allowed to rejoin the team in the flag-lowering ceremony after having written a letter to President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo declaring herself an Indonesian and gaining massive public support.
