August 21, 2024
JAKARTA – Yasonna Laoly, on his last day in office as law and human rights minister on Monday, said his predecessor should ensure the success of the Overseas Citizenship of Indonesia (OCI) visa plan, underlining that the inclusion of the Indonesian diaspora community was key to ensuring Indonesia’s long-term success.
There is still a lot of “conservatism” within the Indonesian government regarding the plan to grant lifelong, multiple-entry visas to members of the Indonesian diaspora and their spouses who hold foreign passports. But discussions to expedite the special permit are still ongoing as interest in capturing the diaspora’s talent and economic benefits prevails, Yasonna said.
In recent years, the government has come up with various schemes to attract skilled foreigners and members of the diaspora to the country, including by referencing India’s overseas citizenship permit scheme to allow ex-Indonesian citizens and children of mixed marriages economic, residential and employment rights.
During his time as the law and human rights minister, Yasona said, great effort has been put by several ministries into realizing the plan put forth by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, including working visits to India and discussions on the scheme’s details.
“Research on the implementation of the OCI will be deepened and will positively impact the diaspora community. It is currently being drafted by the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister,” Yasonna said at an OCI public discussion held by the Indonesian Diaspora Network-United on Monday.
“We need to collectively fight for this so that it can be done as soon as possible. Honestly, there was some conservatism among several ministers on the topic, but we continued pushing it,” he added.
A change in the ministries’ leadership does not change the government’s policies, Yasona said, underlining that the drafting process will continue alongside consultations with the diaspora community.
Several details of the visa plan remain to be straightened out, he added, including the type of properties OCI permit holders will be allowed to reside in and purchase, as well as the guidelines specifying eligibility.
Deputy Foreign Minister Pahala Mansury, who also attended the Monday event, reaffirmed that the diaspora community could play a significant role in helping Indonesia realize its Golden Indonesia 2045 by providing the capital, knowledge and economic assets needed to elevate the country’s human resources.
“The Indonesian diaspora can play a very important role in ensuring that we have enough capital,” Pahala said.
In a cabinet reshuffle on Monday, outgoing President Jokowi replaced Yasonna of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) with Supratman Andi Agtas, a loyalist of president-elect Prabowo Subianto, who will be inaugurated in October.
The Palace said the cabinet reshuffle was aimed at smoothing the transition of power two months ahead of Jokowi’s departure.
But previous reports said that Yasonna’s removal was caused by Jokowi’s unhappiness regarding the PDI-P’s decision in July to extend the terms of the current members of its central executive board to 2025, and to bring in new members who have openly criticized Jokowi, who is nominally a PDI-P member.