Australia and Britain warn against travel to Indonesia

Antara, Canberra

The Australian government has warned its citizens against traveling to Indonesia, except Bali and Bintan and Batam in Riau, due to the rising number of demonstrations displaying hostility toward expatriates in Indonesia.

Under these circumstances, Australian citizens should reconsider any plans to travel or do businesses in Indonesia, except Bali, Bintan and Batam, according to the Australian department of foreign affairs and trade on Monday.

The warning was much stronger than a similar statement issued on Oct. 8 following a bomb threat at the office of an Australian insurance company in South Sulawesi.

Australians still living in Indonesia have been warned to remain vigilant of any developments that could endanger their lives.

They were also advised to avoid any demonstrations against the U.S. and the West in relation to the attacks in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile in London, Britain warned its citizens on Saturday not to travel to Indonesia after reports of rising hostility against foreigners in the country.

"We are currently advising against any non-essential travel to Indonesia, with the exception of Bali," a Foreign Office spokesman told Reuters.

Indonesian state media and a tour operator said on Saturday that two German travelers had been kicked and punched while holidaying on Lombok after being mistaken for Americans.

The report, however, was denied by Tim Stuart, marketing manager of the Lombok-Sumbawa Tourism Promotion Board, who said that the source of the report had only "overheard" a conversation without knowing an exact location of the incidents, names of the tourists or why it happened.

The Foreign Office spokesman said the office was not advising tourists to cancel holidays on the resort island of Bali, which has an established tourist trade and whose residents are mainly Hindu.

"Bali remains trouble free," he said. "At present we are certainly not advising tourists there to leave. Nor, at the moment, are we advising those who have planned to holiday in Bali to defer their travel."