Law

Laws

Citizenship Law

Jus sanguinis and jus soli provisions

Indonesian citizenship law operates through a jus sanguinis structure, stipulated by the Law of the Republic of Indonesia on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia (2006) (‘Law on Citizenship’), providing that children born to a citizen parent or parents within or outside of the country will be considered a citizen. Children born in Indonesia to an Indonesian mother, even if the father is stateless or from a country that does not grant citizenship to such children, are also considered as Indonesian citizens. Further, children born out of wedlock to an Indonesian mother or acknowledged by an Indonesian father before they turn 18 or married can be granted Indonesian citizenship. Indonesia lacks a definition of a stateless person in its citizenship legislation.

Indonesia also uses a restricted jus soli principle for certain cases of citizenship acquisition. Children born in Indonesia when their parents’ citizenship status is unclear, newborn children found in Indonesia with unknown parents, and children born in Indonesia when both parents lack citizenship or their existence is unknown can also obtain citizenship by birth. Lastly, children born outside Indonesia to Indonesian parents in countries granting citizenship and those born to parents whose citizenship applications were approved but one parent passes away before taking an oath or declaring allegiance can also be considered Indonesian citizens.

Naturalized citizenship

There is a naturalization process available for those who are 18 or are married, have resided in Indonesia for five consecutive years or ten years intermittently, are physically and mentally healthy, able to speak the Indonesian language, have a steady income, do not have prior citizenship, and have not been convicted of a criminal offense amounting to one year or more imprisonment. A stateless person may be eligible for this procedure if they meet these requirements; however there is no simplified or expedited procedure available to stateless persons and refugees.

Dual citizenship

Dual citizenship is not recognized in Indonesia. Foreign citizens applying for naturalization must renounce their prior citizenship upon acquiring Indonesian citizenship. Citizens of Indonesia may lose their citizenship through renunciation or through the acquisition of another foreign citizenship. Though there are exceptions for children under the age of 18 to maintain dual citizenship, due to the principle of jus soli which applies birthplace as the determining factor of citizenship, once the child reaches the age of 18, they must choose one citizenship.

Treaty ratification status

While Indonesia has not yet ratified the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, or the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, it has ratified the ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CRC, CEDAW with no relevant reservations.

In 2014, the CRC Committee expressed concerns in its concluding observations regarding the requirement of indicating a child’s religion on their identity card, which could lead to discrimination, as well as the risk of statelessness for children born in the territory to two foreign parents who are not eligible for nationality elsewhere. In its 2022 concluding observations, the CEDAW Committee noted concerns over Article 41 of the Law on Citizenship, which “excludes children who were born to an Indonesian and a non-Indonesian parent before 2006 from obtaining Indonesian nationality”. It was recommended that Indonesia amend this provision to ensure that nationality is conferred to children in this scenario. As a party to the ICCPR, Indonesia is obligated to ensure the right to acquire a nationality.

Further, the Committee on Migrant Workers recently expressed concern regarding a large number of unregistered births of Indonesian migrant workers abroad, particularly those born out of wedlock, which it attributed to lack of information, bureaucratic obstacles and financial barriers.

Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in Southeast Asia

Country	Stateless 1	Stateless 2	Refugee	ICCPR	ICESCR	ICERD	CRC	CEDAW
Indonesia

_{^{✅ Signifies that the country is a party to the convention}}

^{_{⛔ Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention}}

_{^{Stateless 1 – 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons}}

_{^{Stateless 2 – 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness}}

Indonesia’s Pledges to End Statelessness

At the High-Level Segment on Statelessness in 2019, Indonesia pledged to:

increase the scope of operation and the provision of infrastructure related to its national citizenship registry;
increase the utilisation of a digital platform for citizenship registry and citizenship documentations such as the issuance of birth certificate and single identity number;
enhance cooperation with UNHCR in handling refugees and asylum seekers
to work with all countries, particularly the two Statelessness Conventions, to learn together, increase capacities, and exchange technology in addressing statelessness.

Population

1. Reported Stateless Persons

In 2022, Indonesia reported 925 stateless persons to UNHCR. The entirety of this reported population consists of stateless Rohingya refugees. UNHCR also noted that there is a potentially large number of unreported non- displaced stateless persons which there is currently no reliable data on. The reported stateless population has fluctuated since the beginning of 2019, increasing by a total of 343 persons.

English-language research into the non-displaced stateless population in Indonesia is limited. UNHCR Indonesia, however, has previously identified five population groups outside of Rohingya refugees who are affected by statelessness in Indonesia. These groups include:

Indonesians of Chinese Origin, due to different historical circumstances and legal complications, some Indonesians of Chinese origin are stateless.
Indonesians of Indian Origin, due historical and legal reasons where individuals of Indian origin may also be affected by statelessness in Indonesia.
Indonesian Migrant Workers who confront documentation challenges or have their citizenship status questioned may find themselves stateless.
Exiled Indonesians who were forced to leave Indonesia for political or other reasons face difficulties re-establishing their citizenship upon their return, leading to statelessness.
Undocumented Chinese Migrants who are stateless Chinese individuals who have migrated to Indonesia without sufficient papers or legal standing may face statelessness.

2. Persons at Risk of Statelessness

A 2012 survey found that over 24 million children were living without birth certificates which the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2014 suggested that this figure may be as high as 50 million. In 2021, birth registration rates were reported to the UN Statistics Department to be 78%. UNHCR, treaty bodies, and academics have all expressed concern over the risk of statelessness faced by children excluded from birth registration in Indonesia.

Reported stateless persons to the UNHCR

Country	2019 (year start)	2020 (year end)	2021 (year end)	2022 (year end)
Cambodia	57,444	57,444	75,000	75,000

Source: UNHCR, Global Trends: Forced Displacement from 2019-2022.

Causes of Statelessness

1. Lack of Legal Safeguards Against Childhood Statelessness

In 2006 Indonesia introduced a new citizenship law removing provisions that discriminated on both gender and ethnic grounds. Under this law both foundling children and children of stateless parents born in Indonesia are considered citizens of Indonesia under the Law on Citizenship. Although the Law on Citizenship now recognizes both foundling children and those born to stateless parents as citizens of Indonesia, the absence of specific guidelines and procedures to ensure the effective implementation of these provisions has resulted in difficulties concerning verification, documentation, and access to basic rights. Without a process to verify their citizenship, there is a risk of cases where people may be denied citizenship. Additionally, without documentation confirming their citizenship, they may encounter difficulties in accessing fundamental rights such as education, healthcare, and legal protection. Efforts made by the government and relevant stakeholders to address these challenges have been relatively limited. There is a need for an approach that includes establishing transparent procedures to verify citizenship, providing necessary documentation, and ensuring the protection of rights for these individuals.

2. Citizenship Stripping

In February 2020, the government of Indonesia disallowed over 1,000 Indonesian citizens who had left Indonesia and joined the Islamic State from returning to the country. While not officially stripping these individuals (who include family members of fighters) of their citizenship, concerns have been raised over the risk of future statelessness faced by this population group.

3. Administrative Barriers

he main cause of statelessness in Indonesia has been attributed by UNHCR to be administrative barriers to birth registration, affecting as many as 50 million people. Concern has been raised by a number of academics, and both the CRC and the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families regarding the large number of children born in Indonesia to migrant worker parents who have not been able to access birth registration and risk statelessness. Additionally, while ethnically discriminatory nationality laws were revoked in 2006, some persons of Chinese and Indian descent still face administrative barriers to accessing citizenship due to a lack of identity documents or where persons have identity documents which include an incorrect recording of their citizenship status.

The CEDAW recently commended Indonesia for increasing the number of children with birth certificates from 32.25% to 90.56% between 2014 and 2019. Despite this, Indonesia has reported an 81% birth registration rate as of 2022.

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