ISSN: 2686-2379; E-ISSN: 2686-3464
analyzed and then arranged systematically, which in turn is used as material for drawing
conclusions.
D. Discussion and Results
1. Urgency of providing citizenship status for otherwise stateless international
refugee children born in Indonesia
Children are the most vulnerable group because they cannot live independently
without others' assistance. Therefore, children have a range of human rights and
basic freedoms that have been recognized in international human rights instruments,
including the right to have a nationality.9 As is a universal principle in human rights,
these basic rights and freedoms apply to children without exception, including
stateless children.10 The fact is, however, many countries make the citizenship of a
person a practical prerequisite to obtain respect, protection, and optimal fulfillment
of human rights.
Furthermore, this happens because citizenship leads to a reciprocal legal
relationship between the state and citizens. In other words, citizens have rights and
obligations to their country, and likewise the state has certain authority and
obligations towards its citizens. In addition, a person's citizenship status is related to
two basic aspects, namely they a clear legal status, and also social status, meaning
that their position as citizens is socially recognized.11
In addition, stateless children indirectly make them stateless persons. Stateless
persons are “persons who either from birth or as result of subsequent changes in
their country of origin are without citizenship.” 12 On the other hand, stateless
children are generally born without being registered and do not have residence
documents that can show their legal identity. As a result, if a child does not have a
residency document, then the child will find it difficult to be able to take care of
everything that requires self-identity. According to David Owen, de jure
statelessness is the condition of lacking an effective nationality, where possessing an
effective nationality requires not only access to civil rights within the territory of
9
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1990, Art 7.
Vienna Declaration on Programs of Action, 1993, Art 5 which stated, "All human rights are
universal, undivided, interdependent, and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights
globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis".
11
Made Nurmawati and I Nengah Suantra, 'The Arrangement of Dual Citizenship of the Indonesian
Diaspora: A Legal and Human Rights Perspective', 9 (3) Jurnal Magister Hukum Udayana (2020), 499.
12
Lin Karita Sakharina and Kadarudin (n 3) 21.
10
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