Culture: Children of Mixed Marriages risk losing their Indonesian citizenship due to administrative mistakes

FGD PerCa November 2025

The FGD was held by PerCa Indonesia and the Indonesian Citizenship Institute (IKI) in Jakarta, Wednesday (26/11/2025). Credit: PerCa Indonesia

Current government laws often lead to children of Indonesian descent without knowing they have lost their Indonesian citizenship due to administrative errors.


The Indonesian Mixed Marriage Association (PerCA Indonesia) continues to voice the aspirations of mixed marriage families, especially regarding the issue of citizenship of Indonesian citizen children born from marriages with foreign nationals (WNA).

In the recently organized Focus Group Discussion (FGD), Ms. Juliani Luthan, who currently serves as Secretary General of PerCa Indonesia and Chair of the Citizenship Working Group, played a central role in advocating the revision of the relevant legislation.
This discussion highlighted various challenges and problems arising from the implementation of Law No. 12 of 2006 on Citizenship of the Republic of Indonesia.
Juliani Luthan
The head of the Indonesian PerCa working group, Julani Luthan, opened the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) held by PerCa together with the Indonesian Citizenship Institute (IKI) in Jakarta on Wednesday, November 26, 2025. Credit: perCa indonesia
In a conversation with SBS Indonesian, Ms. Juliani Luthan affirmed that PERCA focuses on advocating the principle of “Once Indonesia Remains Indonesia”. This principle aims to increase the recognition of blood ties of Indonesian citizen (WNI) descendants in every citizenship policy.
PerCa youth
Indonesian children with their foreign citizens parents Credit: PERCA Indonesia
The PerCA organisation urges the Government to simplify regulation and administrative mechanisms related to the determination of citizenship status in the future. This step is crucial to provide legal certainty and avoid the young generation of Indonesian citizen (WNI) descendants from the risk of losing their citizenship solely as a result of errors or procedural obstacles.

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