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How Yogyakarta preserves discrimination
Yogyakarta today is home to approximately 20,000 Chinese-Indonesians. But one in 10 claims to have been directly subjected to unequal treatment under the 1975 instruction.
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Standing for the rights – Yogyakarta resident Z.Siput Lokasari (left), who is also a Chinese descent, and Indonesian Son Movement against Discrimination (Granad) head Willy Sebastian show posters written with messages “Please Stop Discrimination” and “Please Obey the Constitution” to protest the discriminatory policy on land ownership in the province. (JP/Bambang Muryanto)
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n a recent verdict, the Yogyakarta District Court upheld a long-standing regulation that prohibits Chinese-Indonesians from owning land in the sultanate city.
This verdict defies the spirit of the 1998 reforms, which strongly promote equality for all citizens no matter their ethnicity, religion or socio-economic status.
Regardless of the privilege afforded by Law No. 13/2012 on Yogyakarta’s special status, this unequal treatment of Chinese-Indonesians is inappropriate.
In the spirit of reforming Indonesia, which Yogyakarta is a part of, the United Nations’ Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was ratified in 1999 and explicitly prohibits racial and ethnic
