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I’ve made delibarely the Indonesian expats life twice as the topics for “Blogger Indonesia of the Week.” The issue I wanted to raise is not only how important it’s for us to give appreciation wherever it’s due including to those who’re living abroad, but also to highlight a little bit the incapability of our diplomats abroad (KBRI-KJRI) to represent and promote Indonesia and its people, the purpose of which is better served by Indonesian expats rather than by those high-paid civil servant diplomats.
A reader who happens to be an Indonesian expat sends me a good letter regarding the dilemma on citizenship: her love towards her homeland forces her to keep her Indonesian passport; yet there’s an urgent needs for her or any Indonesian expats to change citizenship to make life easier in a country they’re choosing to stay. The problem is Indonesia doesn’t have dual-citizenship policy like China so as to make the expats have both citizenship.
That’s why,
The citizenship issue is another thing that makes many Indonesian expats think over to return to Indonesia. The USA has the so-called “dual nationality.” We’re talking about #1 super power country in the world, but Indonesia (which is now considered a third world country) doesn’t approve people to have dual nationality. The loss is, naturally, Indonesia’s.
In the meantime,
“Smarter” third world countries, such as Mexico, sees this as an opportunity of partnership, which allows their top people to still keep their Mexican nationality while obtaining US nationality. Unless Indonesia adopts this dual citizenship system, it would be hard to stop Indonesia’s best daughters and sons from getting other country’s nationality.
Making arrangement with other countries on this issue is not a big deal, says she.
It’s actually pretty easy, Indonesia can sign a bilateral agreement with the USA, UK and other developed countries to allow Indonesians to have dual nationality. Since Indonesia doesn’t have much to offer, Indonesia will benefit a lot from this bilateral agreement.
A good and reasonable suggestion from an Indonesian expat which needs to be looked at by Indonesian policy makers.
April 2, 2008 at 2:08 pm
As an Indonesian born with US citizenship, I support the idea of dual citizenship for Indonesians. I mean, the world is shrinking and people are more mobile. Indonesian government should consider it to attract “former” Indonesians to return and invest or imply their experiences for the benefits of our beloved country. In my humble opinion, citizenship (nationality) is what within your heart, not necessarily what travel document you have.