BALI (and all of Indonesia) any foreigner who comes into land ownership through inheritance or marriage, loses their ownership status on the property after a period of one year.

Scores of mixed-marriage couples grouped under the Indonesian Mixed-Marriage Society (PerCa) are demanding the government fulfill their right to own property after marrying foreigners. They protested that the implementation of the Marriage and Agrarian Laws had disadvantaged them.

The supervisory board chairwoman of PerCa, Rulita Anggraini, told Bali Daily over the weekend that Indonesians who married foreigners lost their right to own land outright (hak milik) and could only hold a leasehold title, or hak pakai.

“Even if we bought the property when we were single, the government forces us to change the land status from full ownership to leasehold. This is weird,” Rulita said.

“We don’t understand why. Yes, we married foreigners. But we are still Indonesian citizens. Why have we lost our rights as citizens?” she asked.

The problem of land ownership for Indonesians married to foreigners has been ongoing for many years. Article 21 of the 1960 Agrarian Law is the biggest problem for mixed marriages. The article stipulates that any foreigner who comes into land ownership through inheritance or marriage, loses their ownership status on the property after a period of one year.

The problem was compounded by Law No. 1/1974 on marriage, which stipulated that all property purchased after an Indonesian woman’s marriage to a foreigner would be joint wealth. Another complication was the 1958 citizenship law that stipulated an Indonesian woman would follow her husband’s citizenship.