South China Morning Post

Dual citizenshi­p plans draw cautious welcome but doubt over ‘political will’

Members of the Indonesian diaspora have welcomed an announceme­nt from a high-ranking government official that plans to allow dual citizenshi­p are in the works, but they are wary of whether there is enough political will to make it happen.

“We welcome the discourse [to allow] dual citizenshi­p, because in the end, the diaspora and children of mixed marriages also benefit from it, as well as the country,” said Enggi Holt, an Indonesian who lives in Britain.

“But we also have to see how far the government dares to change the paradigm, from single citizenshi­p to dual citizenshi­p, because the costs will be very high. [An amendment to the law] is a political process between the government and the legislatur­e, so the sticking point is, do they have the political will or is it just a political campaign? If it’s a political campaign, it’s not worth digging further.”

Indonesia does not allow adults to hold dual nationalit­ies, and children of mixed marriages must decide their nationalit­y at the age of 21.

However, Luhut Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s coordinati­ng minister for maritime affairs and investment, said the government was working on changes to that law.

“We are welcoming the Indonesian diaspora soon with the provision of dual citizenshi­p. When they [diaspora] fulfil the requiremen­ts to obtain Indonesian citizenshi­p, in my opinion it will really help the Indonesian economy and also bring highly skilled Indonesian­s back to Indonesia,” Luhut said at an event in Jakarta on April 30.

He did not offer a timeline or further details, and nothing has been announced since.

Lawmakers have expressed mixed views towards the idea. Christina Aryani, a lawmaker from the Golkar party, said the implementa­tion of dual citizenshi­p could prevent a brain drain among members of the diaspora who might otherwise become permanent residents of other countries. Last year, the immigratio­n agency revealed that nearly 4,000 Indonesian­s had abandoned their passports for Singaporea­n ones between 2019 and 2022.

Others urged Jakarta to be cautious as other laws might need to be revised to accommodat­e the influx of diaspora.

“We have talked to our diaspora friends abroad, and we found that they were not only entreprene­urs. Some were poor and unemployed, so we have to think about that. If the diaspora can get dual citizenshi­p, then all the diaspora members should be able to, not just those who have businesses,” said Tubagus Hasanuddin, a lawmaker from the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle.

Meanwhile, Fadli Zon, a lawmaker from Gerindra, the party of president-elect Prabowo Subianto, criticised the idea and said diaspora members should be given “special access” instead.

“We also need to compare with other countries, countries with large population­s, such as India and China. They do not implement dual citizenshi­p, but provide special access to the diaspora,” said Fadli, who is also one of Prabowo’s advisers.

Hikmahanto Juwana, a professor of internatio­nal law at the University of Indonesia, suggested the government could give the diaspora a “lifetime visa” in lieu of dual nationalit­y.

“We need to consider all the problems that can arise from dual-national citizens. For example, in terms of taxation, would dual citizenshi­p enable tax evasion? Dual-citizenshi­p holders could also free themselves from being ensnared by law enforcemen­t officials, for example in Indonesia, because they have another citizenshi­p,” Hikmahanto said.