R

ed tape and ignorance are said to be among factors that have contributed to the number of children without birth certificates in Depok, West Java.

Children without birth certificates number almost 200,000, posing difficulties for school enrolment and other administrative matters.

Senior citizen Herniati, 60, said the problem prevailed because of a lack of awareness among residents, particularly those who lived far away from the city center.

“Many people still don’t know the procedure to get a birth certificate for their children. Many of them who I have met said they were reluctant to face red tape,” said Herniati, who resides in Pancoran Mas district.

To obtain the document from the Depok Civil Registry and Demography Agency, parents are required to provide copies of their identity cards, family card, marriage book and copies of the ID cards of two witnesses who were present when the child was born.

Herniati said the prevailing regulation, which only authorizes parents to process the documentation, had also created difficulties. She suggested that other family members whose names were cited on the family card should also be allowed to carry out the task.

“Many parents are busy during work hours, while the office registration hours are only open until 12 p.m.,” she said, urging the agency to directly approach citizens through an awareness campaign.

Another resident, Maryam, 47, who visited the agency’s office on Tuesday to process birth certificates for her and her grandchild, said many citizens did not consider the certificates important because in the past, the document was not required when registering a marriage or for school.

“It seems to have become a habit inherited from older generations. We do not know its importance. Now me and my husband cannot go on umrah [minor haj] because we don’t have birth certificates,” said the Citayam resident.

The lack of knowledge on the requirements to obtain birth certificates has apparently presented another problem for some citizens.

Fitri Wudawati, 29, who lives in Pitara, Pancoran Mas, said she had to pay Rp 250,000 (US$18.75) to her community unit (RW) head in return for help with obtaining a birth certificate for her son, because she was clueless about how to get the certificate but needed it as her son was about to start school.

“I still consider myself lucky, however. Other people even had to pay up to Rp 1 million,” the housewife said.

Agency official Christie Hedy Maria Lengkey said her office would continue to address the problem to increase the rate of children with birth certificates, which currently stands at 62 percent.

According to data from the Population Administration Information System (SIAK), more than 190,000 of 504,000 children under 18 years old in the city do not possess birth certificates.

Christie said that in an effort to speed up certification rates, her agency had held several initiatives to raise public awareness and to ease the documentation process, including establishing cooperations with schools to help parents complete the process through the education agency.

“Last year, we visited 22 subdistricts in the city to help citizens and their children obtain birth certificates. We will carry out the same method this year,” she said, adding that her office had cooperated with the Indonesian Midwives Association (IBI) to support the issuance of birth certificates.

The Home Ministry has set a target of 80 percent of children nationwide possessing birth certificates by 2017.