Australia and Britain warn against travel to Indonesia

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."