President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s plan to amend Law No. 12/2006 to allow Indonesians to hold dual citizenship would be risky based on current law enforcement systems in Indonesia, according to lawmakers and legal experts.
“The government should conduct a comprehensive study to evaluate dual citizenship regulations because the idea is susceptible to various problems,” Hikmahanto Juwana, professor of international law at the University of Indonesia, told thejakartapost.com on Thursday.
According to Hikmahanto, having dual citizenship would increase people’s tendency to avoid paying taxes in Indonesia by reasoning that they hold foreign citizenship.
The professor is concerned that people’s divided loyalties could also become a challenge, suggesting that if Indonesia and a citizens other home country were to conduct war, it would be hard for them to choose, especially in the context of the current state defense program.
Another challenge, Hikmahanto said, related to the question of which authorities would protect a person if they were in trouble. He suggested that both states could plausibly claim the right to protection their citizen.
“However, [if the aim was] to ease migration for Indonesians who have been living abroad, the government could just amend visa regulations to favor those of Indonesia descent,” he asserted.
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Jokowi’s dual citizenship comments create controversy | The Jakarta Post
