Bill may lead way for dual citizenship
Muninggar Sri Saraswati,
The Jakarta Post 08 feb,
Jakarta
Couples in transnational marriages have reason to hope one of their most pressing problems, the citizenship of their children, will be resolved as lawmakers consider the possibility of “limited dual citizenship”.
A working committee of the House of Representatives will discuss limited dual citizenship, along with several other contentious articles in the citizenship bill that has landed before the House.
Legislator Slamet Effendy Yusuf said the working committee would begin discussing the articles Wednesday, as it follows up on the work of an interfactional team that unanimously agreed to include limited dual citizenship among the articles for discussion.
“It’s a breakthrough because our existing citizenship law, which was passed in 1958, does not recognize the idea,” he said.
Slamet, who chaired the interfactional team, said dual citizenship may be allowed for children of couples of different nationalities, as well as for children of Indonesian couples born in countries that apply the principle of ius soli (“right of the soil”). Countries that apply ius soli, such as the United States, automatically give citizenship to any baby born in the country.
Indonesia follows the principle of ius sanguinis (“right of the blood”), which means babies born here automatically receive the citizenship of their fathers.
In practice, this means Indonesian women married to foreign nationals cannot pass their citizenship on to their children. For many transnational couples in the country, this restriction adds to the expenses and complications of raising a child here.
Slamet said the House and the government recognized these difficulties and wanted to address them.
“There are lots of problems with the custody of children of transnational marriages if the parents divorce. Indonesian mothers can be accused of kidnapping their own children if they insist on raising the children here,” Slamet said.
The legislator said dual citizenship would also benefit the children of Indonesian couples born abroad.
“Some developed countries do a very good job of protecting children. We think it is good for (Indonesian) children to pursue better education, health and other opportunities in foreign countries,” he said.
However, Slamet said any dual citizenship would be limited, with the children eventually having to choose one citizenship once they reached a certain age. The working committee will decide the age limit.
“Some have suggested 16 years old, others 18. Some foreigners have asked for 23 years old. We don’t know yet, but it may be 18, in accordance with the definition of children in the Child Protection Law,” Slamet said.
The citizenship bill also would allow Indonesian women married to foreign nationals whose countries rule that a woman’s citizenship automatically follows that of her husband, to maintain their Indonesian citizenship. However, they would be required to file a formal request with the relevant agency. Transnational couples and women’s organizations have closely followed the deliberation of the citizenship bill, and have been active in providing information and suggestions to legislators. They are eager to see the old citizenship law, which they consider unfair to people involved in transnational marriages, particularly Indonesian women married to foreign nationals, replaced by a law they consider more equitable.