Jakarta protests new U.S. discriminative visa policy<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government on Wednesday criticized the United States' new
\nvisa policy targeting young Muslim applicants from 25 Islamic
\ncountries, including Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Acting spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wahid
\nSupriyadi said such a new policy was \"discriminatory\" and that it
\nwent against Washington's claim that the U.S. was leading a
\ncampaign against terrorism, not Islam.<\/p>\n
\"If the regulation is true, we really regret the decision. It
\nshows the inconsistency of the U.S. government because they have
\nsaid they are not fighting Muslims but terrorists,\" he told The
\nJakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Washington announced last week a new policy requiring young
\nMuslims aged between 16 and 45 to apply for visas at least 20
\ndays before they made trips to the United States. It used to take
\none week at most to obtain an American travel permit.<\/p>\n
The decision to expand the process for granting visas was
\naimed at allowing U.S. officials to screen Muslim applicants
\nintending to visit America following the terrorist attacks on New
\nYork and the Pentagon.<\/p>\n
Malaysia had earlier lodged a similar protest against the new
\nU.S. visa policy, saying such a regulation was unfair to Muslims
\nand would weaken the U.S.-led global coalition against terrorism.<\/p>\n
The Islam-based countries affected by the new visa regulations
\ninclude Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea,
\nIndonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia,
\nMorocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan,
\nSyria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.<\/p>\n
Wahid said the U.S. administration had yet to notify Jakarta
\nof the new policy, adding that the American Embassy in Jakarta
\nwas still applying the old rules for visa applicants.<\/p>\n
\"I have checked the policy with the U.S. Embassy here and they
\nsaid Washington has not yet provided them with any formal
\nnotification on the new policy and that they are still applying
\nthe same procedures,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government would understand should the
\nrestrictions be based on other reasons because there were many
\nIndonesians who had frequently violated visa regulations.<\/p>\n
\"But, if the restriction is (imposed) because of certain
\nreligious reasons, it's really regrettable,\" Wahid sternly
\nremarked.<\/p>\n
Separately on Thursday, the newly-installed U.S. Ambassador to
\nIndonesia Ralph Leo Boyce said his office had reviewed the new
\nprocedures for visa applications.<\/p>\n
\"Actually, just two days ago, we reviewed in the embassy the
\nprocedures and approaches toward those who come in for visa
\ninformation and for visa interviews,\" he told journalists after
\nhis meeting with Muslim activists in Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"We will take into account the comments being expressed today
\nand we will continue to review the best procedures for visa
\noperations,\" he added.<\/p>\n
However, Boyce said his office was not able to change the
\npolicy of imposing a fee of Rp 500,000 (US$50) on each visa
\napplicant as it was applied in all American embassies.<\/p>",
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