TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Statistics Indonesia in the Bogor Regency, West Java, only officially register 45.21 percent of married couples in the regency as the rest are unregistered marriages, locally coined as nikah siri.

“There is only 45.21 percent from a total of 2,562,114 married people. In other terms, there are around 1.4 million married people at the Bogor Regency who do not own a marriage certificate,” said Statistics Indonesia of the Bogor Regency’s social statistics coordinator Ujang Jaelani on January 3, Antaranews reported.

The acting regent of Bogor Iwan Setiawan in answering these unique statistics said the local administration always facilitates married couples marrying under religious laws but who have not been legally registered by holding annual mass marriage events that are legally acknowledged by the state.

In 2023 alone, the Bogor Regency has allocated roughly Rp2.5 billion to hold a marriage Isbat (confirmation of marriage) aiming to attract 2,500 married couples and have their status legally acknowledged by the government.

"They can then obtain a marriage certificate if they are legally registered. Birth certificates and other documents can be issued for their children in the future. This includes if they want to make a passport for Umrah or Hajj,” said Iwan.

ANTARA

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