Peed off, mate!<\/p>\n
As an Australian resident in Jakarta, I was shocked when my
\nwife told me, after our two-hour wait at the embassy merely to
\nsubmit her visa application, that she felt humiliated by the
\nprocess nurtured by the Australian Embassy, and by, one must
\npresume, the Australian government.<\/p>\n
My wife majored in Oceanography at one of Indonesia's top five
\nuniversities, comes from a highly respectable family, has won two
\nsignificant awards in her career as a journalist -- second prize
\nin AOL-Time Warner's Henry Luce Awards and first in the Hong Kong
\nForeign Correspondents Award for reporting on human rights -- is
\na consultant to the government and the mother of our two
\n(Australian) children.<\/p>\n
That she felt humiliated by the process demanded by the
\nAustralian Immigration Service perhaps reflects Indonesian
\nattitudes. I cannot, unfortunately, help but also reflect on what
\nthis process and the policy behind it says about the Australian
\ngovernment's attitude toward its Asian neighbors.<\/p>\n
I have discussed this mindset with a former senior Australian
\ngovernment official in Jakarta, who told me that he believed
\nAustralia's attitude toward Asia reflected an unconscious stand
\nof the John Howard government that is intrinsically racist. We
\ncan all understand the need for strict security measures in the
\nwake of the Sept. 11 attacks, yet it is difficult to understand
\nwhy the Australian government cannot realize that it would be
\nmore beneficial to the nation if it took a more cordial and
\nbalanced attitude toward countries in the region and the citizens
\nof those countries.<\/p>\n
Is it too much to ask the immigration section of the
\nAustralian Embassy to provide a special window for families? In
\nour case, my wife has visited Australia a number of times, has
\nnever thought of overstaying her visa, which, after all, when one
\nfinally gets one, is sufficiently generous in its provision of
\ntime. Yet even the requirement to pay a (non-refundable) fee of
\naround A$60 for a visa when Australians visiting Indonesia pay
\nnothing raises the question of whether this arrangement is fair.<\/p>\n
When we return to Australia, we inevitably spend money. Money
\nspent on accommodation, travel, gifts for friends and expenditure
\non everyday things contributes to the Australian economy. Why
\nthen should legitimate visitors, people who have every right to
\nclaim permanent residence, be submitted to the cattle market that
\nis the immigration section at the Australian Embassy? I can only
\nconclude that this is an insult to Asians, and Indonesians in
\nparticular.<\/p>\n
KEITH LOVEARD<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/peed-off-mate-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }