Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR), M. Azis Syamsuddin, has stated that regulation to grant dual citizenship to certain foreigners for the sake of Indonesia’s national interests is currently being drafted.
However, it is still being studied from the perspective of security and defense, primarily the country’s intelligence interests.
“Academic manuscripts are still being prepared. A bill has been drafted to discuss in the legislative body, the leadership meeting, and then determined at the plenary meeting.
We’re looking at the future benefits of this bill and what may be the negative impacts for this nation,” said Azis.
Azis admitted that even though the House of Representatives has included the bill in the national legislation program, this does not guarantee that the bill will be completed or even dismissed at future sessions. There are many factors behind the drafting of the bill, such as the aspirations of various community activists, as well as political, social, and cultural conditions.
“It’s our duty and obligation to listen to the aspirations of the diaspora, to continue to fight for them wherever possible. The application of dual citizenship is one of the aspirations conveyed to us from 10 meetings held with foreign diasporas which were conducted virtually during this recess,” as quoted by Pikiran Rakyat.
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In principle, the Dual Citizenship Law could be revised according to the needs of the community. However, changing a law requires a mature legal study in the form of an academic paper that will examine various aspects such as defense, security, sociology, culture, and the readiness of state administrators.
“The revision of the Dual Citizenship Law has been included in the 2020-2024 national legislation program. The point is not to ‘Indonesianise’ foreigners, but to maintain the Indonesian aspects of Indonesians. Therefore, I invite all of us with an open mind to listen to various perspectives in this discussion,” he concluded.