Jakarta, Oct. 2 -- Indonesia has set up a special desk to address citizenship problems faced by persons of Filipino descent (PPDs) in Indonesia and persons of Indonesian descent (PIDs) in the Philippines, officials said Thursday.

Agato Simamora, assistant deputy for Immigration Service Strategy at the Coordinating Ministry for Law, Human Rights, Immigration and Corrections, said the desk is expected to deliver practical recommendations and provide technical guidance to resolve citizenship disputes.

"Thousands of people of Indonesian descent in the Philippines and Filipino descent in Indonesia still face unclear citizenship status," Simamora said in a statement.

He said undocumented descendants from both countries remain vulnerable to e...