Bali Tourism News

Campur kids get dual nationality in Indonesia

August 9th, 2006

Campur means ‘mixed’ in Indonesian. Jevon is a campur kid, and like many others, was caught in a legal mess as far as his nationality. Logic would suggest, that if a kid was born in a country, to a mother who is a national from that country, the kid too, would similarly become national. Well logic doesn’t have much to do with what often goes on over here, and campur kids were considered foreingers, adopting the nationality of their father.

All that has changed. While I was in Europe, Jakarta has changed the rules, shaken the pack, come to its senses. Now campur kids can have dual nationality, until age 18. I met a German guy who had to divorce his wife, so he could somehow escape the kid’s visa fees and runs overseas. Traditionally Indonesia has had a control complex, and has been particularly wary of foreigners. The attitude was ‘now you’re married to an Indonesian, take her the heck out of here.’ President SBY is leaving no stone unturned, in order to generate foreign investment. Helping the foreign business community in Jakarta live their lives, without endless immigration details to worry about, is a great move.

I think Jevon is going to like being Indonesian and British

source : www.baliblog.com

Entry Filed under: Bali Tourism News