Indonesia, Immigration, and a New Law...

It has been a while since I have bothered to write on any Indonesian laws. I continue to read them regularly, perhaps daily might be a more accurate description. I read for two reasons: to keep up-to-date and to keep my language skills up to speed. However, I figured I might jot down a few points about the new immigration law. I thought that I would do this for no other reason than having a vested interest in the subject matter. But, then again, it is 15 Chapters and 145 Articles long, I can think of a whole lot of other things that I might enjoy more now that I am writing for fun rather than income.

To say that the new Immigration Law was a long time in the making, or a long time in coming, is an understatement in the extreme. The previous immigration law was passed and enacted way back in 1992. Nevertheless, the House of Representatives (DPR) finally got their collective heads around the idea of needing to pass new legislation in this area. So, on 7 April 2011, the DPR passed the Immigration Bill into Law and the rest is history, sort of.

The new law goes some ways towards resolving a number of outstanding issues that directly impact upon foreigners living or wanting to live in Indonesia. However, there are other really critical and substantive issues that will determine whether foreigners opt to live in Indonesia that remain unaddressed, and as such unresolved. A prime example of this is property ownership in Indonesia by foreigners. This is apparently going to be addressed in separate legislation, presumably a revised agrarian law, at some later date. The "some later date" is problematic as it still creates present problems for foreigners and their Indonesian families that might not wait until some later date.

The idea that the new immigration law is solely to satisfy concerned foreigners and their agitating Indonesian spouses who lobbied for some of these changes is a furphy. The reality is that after 19 years with the same legislation while other laws and regulations were enacted and implemented around it meant that the old immigration law was no longer fit for the purpose it was originally enacted for. Furthermore, there was little point in going about the process in an ad hoc or piecemeal manner making the odd amendment here are there. Common sense dictated that the best, perhaps preferred, approach was to draft and enact a whole new law.

Yet, it must be noted that there are plenty of provisions in the new law which are pro-foreigner, particularly pro-mixed marriage families. However, once again, this is not the sole reason for the new law.

In any event, it must also be noted that the enactment of the law constitutes less than half the process. The proof of the pudding, so to speak, is in the implementing regulations. Quite clearly, the new law will require new implementing regulations in order for the new law to work and to be enforceable. If these provisions are not forthcoming, then the law will be difficult to apply and the 'guarantees' that many think the new law provides will fall by the wayside.

In fact, the statement that all current implementing regulations remain in force while they do not conflict with the new law and until such time as they are repealed and replaced does not provide any increased or enhanced certainty for those individuals that are likely to come under the full force of the law.

For example, a dilemma that presents itself is how much should foreigners be paid. The dilemma is whether foreigners as defined under the new immigration law are the equivalent of expatriates, particularly if they are being sponsored by their Indonesian spouse. The salary ranges for expatriates are set out in explicit terms in Director General of Taxation Decision No. KEP-173/PJ/2002 which requires expatriates (nationalities are listed in the decision) to be paid specific amounts in USD for certain jobs. An example, an Australia Manager in the trade business is to be paid USD 10,756 per month. Funnily enough it sets out that I should have been being paid USD 8,900 per month, but that was certainly not happening!

The guessing game here is one of whether a foreigner recruited locally in Indonesia as opposed to a foreigner recruited in their home country and brought to Indonesia are classified differently in the expatriate sense. Unfortunately, Article 61 and the elucidation is silent on the salary / wage front. However, it would certainly seem to make for an interesting discussion at the immigration office if an Indonesian spouse of limited means was seeking to sponsor a foreign spouse into Indonesia, particularly if they were looking at a small start-up business operation that might not even turn over USD 10,000 per month.

Maybe, this immigration law deal needs to be a series of posts?

Indonesian Nationals and Foreign Spouses...

Whenever I have had an extended break from posting I always feel the need to apologise for my absence. I am not sure why that is. Maybe it is that I really enjoy posting odds and ends on my blog, and the fact that I have been way so irregular in doing that probably bothers me more than it bothers anyone else. But hey, duty or work calls and I have been busy doing the thing that pays my bills.

However, it is Saturday, there is only one week of Term 1 to go before the school holidays kick in, and it has been a particularly lazy Saturday to date. And, aside from a need to mow the front lawn, a lazy Saturday it seems destined to remain. That said, I have installed and set-up a new Canon Pixma MG6150 printer on our wireless home network. For the technologically challenged like me, even in a "move mouse and click" environment it was quite an achievement.

So, enough of the beating around the bush, on with the show!

It was with some interest that I read in The Jakarta Globe today an article about a draft bill and changes to the immigration law. I am particularly interested in the changes that will impact significantly on the foreign spouses and children of Indonesian citizens. My interest is personal, I am a foreign spouse and Will is the son of an Indonesian and Non-Indonesian parent.

Perhaps a reality check in the environment of euphoria is needed to start with. I really do not want to be a wet blanket and smother everyone else's fun here or to be the party-pooper, but the argument that the draft bill allows mixed-marriage families to stay together is rather simplistic. The truth of the matter is that the procedures for foreigners married to Indonesians and living in Indonesia are onerous. In fact, they are quite painful at times. They are also very expensive. But, to suggest that they are the sole source of families coming apart as the argument that the current changes will enable families to stay together has that logical fallacy feel to it.

From a personal perspective, the idea that my wife can sponsor me to live in Indonesia is a plus. The fact that Will would now be able to qualify for permanent residency if we opted for only Australian citizenship for him is a plus. Nevertheless, the current laws and regulations allow for Will to be a dual citizen until he is 18 and that seems like the best deal for him. The process of getting Indonesian citizenship for Will though is much easier outside of Indonesia than it is while in Indonesia.

Again, on the personal perspective. It is pleasing to see that the Indonesian government has finally recognised that there are foreigners who marry Indonesians for all the right reasons and establish roots in the country and establish lives there that are not always so easily packed up with the purchase of a ticket to another country. It is also a pleasing development that the draft bill seems to provide for foreign spouses to be sponsored by their Indonesian partner rather than rely on the sponsorship of an employer.

These developments have been a long time in the making. They have been on the table and in discussion for many years. In fact, I had discussions about these very amendments when we were living in Indonesia. We have been back in Australia since 2009. Come to think of it, in about 14 days we would have been back in Australia for 2 whole years. Time flies!

The changes are not enough to warrant an immediate "pack-up and go" for us. But, the truth is that it does, or at least will, make it easier for us to contemplate a move back to Indonesia in the sooner rather than later sense. However, there are no immediate plans for a return for any other reason other than a holiday this year or in the next 3 or 4. Yet, if someone was to offer me a great package deal for a job teaching at a school in Indonesia, then who knows...

Noordin M. Top Claims Recent Jakarta Bombings

Noordin M. Top has allegedly signed off on an internet message that was posted on behalf of Top. As has been suspected, Top claims the bombings on behalf of a splinter group linked to Jemaah Islamiyya (or Jemaah Islamiyah), Tandzim al-Qaeda.

Interestingly, the message claims that the American business community, and presumably anyone remotely associated with that community, for stealing Indonesia's natural resources. Therefore, this would give some credence to the idea that James Castle's round table breakfast function was in fact the intended target and not a target of opportunity.

The message was written in Arabic and Indonesian. It was posted on Sunday to a website that had not be known previously, Bushro. Top and his band of terrorists have only claimed one previous Indonesian bombing, and by all accounts it seems that this message is in much the same manner as the previous claim. The previous claim of responsibility related to bombings in Bali in 2005.

Whether the claim is legitimate and issued on the orders of Top remain to be seen and investigated more fully. I have recently heard that some experts are starting to question its authenticity as it contains some errors. These experts are questioning the authenticity because Top is a renowned perfectionist. Time will tell I guess.

The note mentions some of Top's closest confidants that have been killed by anti-terror forces during the pursuit of Top. However, these confidants were killed in 2005 and 2006, so this suggests that the planning and execution of the plan were a long-time in the making. So long in fact that it has been reported that the police had intelligence to suggest that a bombing was a possibility.

Noordin M. Top is Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorist. He hails from Malaysia but has honed his bombing skills in Indonesia. He has become a real merchant of death in that he is allegedly responsible for the killing of almost 250 people since his bombing spree started.

The sooner anti-terrorism forces catch this man the better. Otherwise, Indonesians can be assured of one thing; he will continue to build bombs designed to kill as many people as he can for as long as he can. He, and his group, might be targeting foreigners, but history shows he is not adverse to killing Indonesians as acceptable collateral damage in the pursuit of his goals.

Violence is not the answer. It will never resolve our differences and it will never allow us to move forward to a place where we all live in peace and harmony with one another. People of all faiths must denounce violence as a legitimate means to an end; violence is not legitimate and it never ends.

SBY -- Flustered?

My previous post on the recent bombings in Jakarta and the speech by SBY in the aftermath dealt with the idea that he used his position as president to take advantage of the tragic events to score a few political points and to finger the opposition of being involved. Now, it may well turn out after the investigation that the president's accusations are borne out and Prabowo was the man.

However, all early indications are suggesting that this was a JI, or remnants of JI, operation with a man by the name of Nur Hasbi (or Nur Aziz) allegedly being at least one of the suicide bombers. It seems that Nur Hasbi has links to JI and to Abu Bakar Ba'asyir through Al-Mukmin Ngruki Islamic Boarding School (Pesantren).

The Sydney Morning Herald and their correspondent on the ground in Jakarta, Tom Allard, is running a story with the headline that the speech indicates that Dr. Yudhoyono is flustered and that the speech in which he links his rivals (primarily Prabowo) to the bombing violence as being extraordinary. The sense of extraordinary being that the speech and the linking of his rivals runs counter to what most people would have expected considering the nature of the events. The story goes on to suggest that this is raising serious concerns about the president's judgment in a crisis situation.

When you are like me, to suggest that the president might have a few judgment issues and that he took advantage of a tragic situation to score political points is likely to get you labeled as a foreigner (or as Indonesians prefer to call their white foreign folk, bule) trying to read too much into a situation, or simply not understanding the Indonesian dynamic or "way" because you are white (there are plenty of examples of this -- See Indonesia Matters for a sampling of these types of comments). This is always an easy way out of having to debate the real issues of substance. It always reminds me of the kid who brings the ball for the footy match and when he gets picked last, decides he would rather take the ball and go home than play.

The substantive issues in the speech are critical and must be addressed. It is time for the president to ante-up if he is intending to stand by the statements that he has made. Specifically, the idea that the attack was really an attack by the political elites of Indonesia against him personally. The president talks in his speech about Indonesia being a country where the rule of law applies and a place where evidence is required to gain a conviction. Now would see like an appropriate time to put forward a little more convincing proof than a few photos and a video of some balaclava clad supposed terrorists shooting at a mugshot of the president.

Furthermore, that there is or was a plan to take over the General Election Commission headquarters on the announcement of his presumed victory in the recent presidential elections. If there is enough intelligence floating around that this "attack" was a real possibility then there is enough intelligence obviously that the attack would have been thwarted. How about some evidence being released and the arrest of some of the would-have-been perpetrators of this brazen attack on Indonesian democracy and the headquarters of the KPU.

Finally, the president has indirectly linked Prabowo as being an instigator of the bombings and presumably the impending violent response to the announcement of the presidential election results on 27 July 2009. This really does require a little bit of support in terms of evidence. It will be interesting to see whether Prabowo and his legal team thinks there is enough in the statement to start some defamation proceedings. Anyone who knows anything about Prabowo's questionable human rights history knows that the references in SBY's speech can only be about Prabowo.

The speech was extraordinary. It was extraordinary because the speech was prepared prior to it being given. This was a planned and calculated attempt to use a tragic set of circumstances for personal political gain. Even if at some point in the future the president's assertions are proven to be true, specifically that his political rivals are involved, it still does not condone the method or the timing of the speech to launch a personal attack of his own. It cannot be forgotten that this is a case where innocent Indonesians and foreigners lost their lives in attack that was anything but a personal attack on the president.

Legal in Jakarta?

Every year the City Population and Civil Registration Agency send their inspectors to do the rounds of businesses employing foreigners in order, supposedly, to check that their paperwork is all squared away.

This "inspection" has also been a traditional annual under the table money spinner as there are invariably a good number of businesses and foreigners who believe they will never get caught and do not bother to get the myriad of paperwork and permits completed.

This year the Agency found 55 of the 241 expats across 62 different companies that they surveyed / inspected did not have their paperwork in order. Assuming that this is an accurate reflection of the numbers and not just the ones being reported, then this is a rate of more than 1 in 5 without the right paperwork and therefore technically working illegally in Indonesia. Stupid.

The simple reality is that all the countries that I have ever visited or worked in have had in place strict regulations governing foreign or expat labor. To expect that Indonesia is any different is naive and to assume that everything remains "fixable" is not good risk management.

The Agency seems to have been generous this year as it did not impose the sanctions it could have done on the illegal workers, but rather gave them a grace period to get their paperwork in order.

According to Agency data there are some 49,000 foreigners with work visas and a further 5,000 who would be classified as permanent residents (five continuous years or more) living and working in Jakarta. I have got to say that I can imagine that it is that many but I also have to say that I have never seen more than a hundred or so gathered in any one place at one time (usually a business networking meeting). So, I wonder where they all are and what they are doing?

But, back to the point. I really do not see what is so hard with understanding that as guests in this country we are required to comply with the prevailing laws and regulations. Admittedly, immigration is a bureaucratic challenge but it is a challenge that can be overcome. It is interesting to me that many of my colleagues talk about corruption in Indonesia but have no problem with paying 50K here or 20K there to get some forms to fill in that are free or 30k for some fella to snap their photo and take a set of fingerprints.

If you keep feeding the monster ...

Terrorism Attack -- Aborted

The 10 Islamic terrorists arrested recently in Sumatra had intended to bomb the Kafe Bedudel in Bukittinggi. They had even gone as far as to plant the devices at the cafe. Fortunately, the were overcome with a conscience and aborted the plan when it became obvious that there would be more Indonesian victims and more Muslim victims than there would be foreigners or westerners.

The group had decided to select a target in Jakarta instead where they would be more likely to get a better kill ratio of foreigners to locals.

Maybe time for an enhanced travel warning?