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View all search resultsCitizenship without certainty
The Global Citizenship is commendable initiative but it lacks legal certainty, professional security and a genuine sense of belonging that can convince Indonesian diaspora to return home.
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President Prabowo Subianto receives flowers from the Indonesian diaspora on September 20 upon his arrival at a hotel in Manhattan, New York, where he stayed during his visit to the United States. Prabowo delivered his speech at the United Nations General Assembly’s general debate on September 23. (Antara/Fathur Rochman)
T
he government’s Global Citizenship of Indonesia (GCI) program is a bold attempt to fill a long-standing policy gap: how to welcome former citizens, mixed-nationality families and descendants of the diaspora without reopening the highly sensitive debate on dual citizenship.
By offering lifetime visas and long-term stay permits, the government says it is adapting to global mobility “without sacrificing sovereignty over citizenship”.
That objective is understandable. However, in its current form, the GCI falls short of what Indonesia needs.
If the country wants to mobilize its global talent and mend its widening brain drain, it must do more than extending an expensive pathway to residency.
The diaspora has greeted the program with skepticism, and not without reason. Much of the scheme resembles an investment visa rather than a rights-based reconnection to one’s homeland.
The financial thresholds, including bond purchases for certain categories of applicants, may be waived for some sponsored former citizens, but the overall structure still favors high-net-worth individuals.
Most of Indonesia’s 4 million-strong diaspora are not venture capitalists or property investors. They are engineers, scientists, caregivers, academics and creative workers. A costly permanent residency is not enough to make them uproot their lives.
