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Of 6,000 stateless residents, only 54 get citizenship
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A local resident undergoes a retina scanning process to get her electronic ID card at the Population and Civil Registration Agency office in Tahuna, Sangihe Islands regency, North Sulawesi, on Sept.9. (Antara/Adwit B Pramono)
O
nly 54 out of 6,000 stateless people, who have been living in Bitung, North Sulawesi, most of them coming from the Philippines, received Indonesian citizenship on Wednesday, an official has said.
“They entered the country without documents. They’d become a problem. Therefore, we had to grant them citizenship as required by the law and it has become an international issue,” said head of the ministry’s office in North Jakarta, Sudirman Hury, in Bitung on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Hury handed over documents officiating Indonesian citizenship to 54 people of Sangile- Filipino descent. They had been living in Bitung for a long time and were married to local people.
Hury said before granting the citizenship that his office had carried out long and careful studies that finally convinced his office to recommend their citizenship to the central government.
Based on the latest survey, in Bitung alone, there are 1,492 stateless people. They live in eight districts, but most of them live in Aertembaga district. Most of them earn their living as fishermen or work for the fisheries industry in Bitung.
Bitung Mayor Maurits Mantiri expressed his gratitude to the government for granting citizenship to the residents.
“Although it only involves a small number of the people, it is meaningful, particularly because Pak Hury wants to continue the program,” he said, adding that their ID cards would be proceeded soon. (bbn).
