Menkumham Will Hand Over Passports For Citizens Of Indonesian Descent In The Philippines

Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) RI Yasonna H Laoly (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesian Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) Yasonna H Laoly is scheduled to symbolically hand over passports for citizens of Indonesian descent domiciled in the Philippines at the end of March 2022.

"Passports are proof of citizenship. So citizens of Indonesian descent in the Philippines who have been confirmed as Indonesian citizens are entitled to a passport," said Sub-Coordinator of Public Relations of the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Achmad Nur Saleh, quoted from Antara on the official website of the Directorate General of Immigration in Jakarta, Sunday.

The passport will be submitted by the Minister of Law and Human Rights to Registered Indonesian Nationals (RINs) or Indonesian descendants in the Philippines who are registered through a data collection scheme for the period 2016 to 2019.

Until 2022, 635 RINs have received a special non-immigrant visa endorsement from the Philippines Department of Justice (DoJ).

The Philippine government, through the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Indonesian Consulate General in Davao City, together with the assistance from the Philippines UNHCR office, initiated a program for registration and confirmation of citizenship for 8,745 citizens of Indonesian descent in Mindanao.

Citizens of Indonesian descent residing in the Philippines are also called Persons of Indonesian Descent (PIDs). Meanwhile, citizens of Filipino descent residing in Indonesia are referred to as Persons of Philippines Descent (PPDs).

As is known, the closest geographical locations between Indonesia and the Philippines are Mindanao and North Sulawesi, which implies the presence of citizens of descent whose citizenship status needs to be clarified.

From the data collection of 8,745 people, 3,345 Indonesian citizens/RINs were confirmed, of which 466 were children with dual citizenship, 2,758 were Filipino citizens, and 2,400 people did not attend or continue the process.

Following up on this, on 27 June 2018 the Philippine government issued a circular that stipulates the granting of visas and special non-immigrant residence permits for RINs with a five-year stay period free of charge.

At the same time in 2018, the Indonesian government through the Consulate General in Davao City issued 1,259 travel documents for RINs, he explained.

"So, this is a manifestation of the long-standing good relations between Indonesia and the Philippines," he said.