The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia has urged the Indonesian diaspora to actively lobby the House of Representatives in order to allow dual citizenship for Indonesians.
According to Dewi Savitri Wahab, an expert from the Ministry’s Social, Culture and Empowerment of Indonesians Abroad division, the government must honour the Indonesian diaspora’s request for dual citizenship in order for them to obtain legal certainty.
Earlier, the government’s plan to revise the 2006 law to allow dual citizenship in 2016 was opposed by lawmakers, who expressed security concerns. “The regulation has not changed. We need consensus among all stakeholders in this country,” Dewi stated at the fifth congress of the Indonesian Diaspora Network Global (IDN Global) in Jakarta on Saturday.
Dewi further elaborated that the diaspora network must be able to provide clear, reasonable arguments in order to convince the lawmakers about the benefits of having a dual citizenship.
So far, Indonesia only allows dual citizenship for children below the age of 18. Upon reaching their 18th birthday, it is mandatory for them to choose one nationality. So far, the Indonesian diaspora numbers are about 8million worldwide.
During the conference, most of the diaspora members insisted that they still wish to contribute to Indonesia’s development while living overseas, therefore dual citizenship is necessary.
Source: The Jakarta Post
Image: Kompas