Australian students risk losing credits for stay in RI

Australian students risk losing credits for stay in RI

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Six Australian students have decided to remain in Yogyakarta
despite warnings from their government, and at the risk of losing
their university credits back home.

"I like the kampung (village) very much," said Becky
Meckelburg, when explaining her reasons for staying.

Meckelburg, who is enrolled at Flinters University in
Adelaide, South Australia, is one of the six Australian students
currently studying at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) who have
decided to stay and continue their studies in spite of security
and travel advisories.

Earlier this month, Bambang Purwono, assistant to the vice
rector of business development and cooperation, revealed that 59
Australian students had been studying at the university, out of
which only six had decided to stay; the rest had all gone home
almost immediately after the Australian government issued travel
advisories following the Oct. 12 Bali bombings. In addition, six
Norwegian students, four American students and an American
professor were reported to have left UGM due to the bombings.

In the wake of the Bali tragedy, the Australian government has
repeatedly warned its citizens not to travel to a number of
places in Indonesia, including Yogyakarta, and called upon
Australians in Indonesia to leave the country.

The latest warning was issued only last Wednesday by the
Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, advising all
Australians to be vigilant against possible "sweeping" by Islamic
militant groups on night clubs and entertainment spots in the
country.

Meckelburg and the five other Australian students, however,
have argued that their government has overreacted and has been
discriminatory towards Indonesia.

"The (Australian) government and universities are using the
wrong reasons to call us home. It was based on incomplete
information. I just don't want to be the victim of a decision
made by somebody in Australia who knows nothing about the real
situation here in Indonesia, especially in Yogyakarta," declared
Thomas Barker, a student at Queensland University of Technology.

Barker, who has lived in Yogyakarta for about two months, said
he felt quite safe in the city and had made many good friends on
campus and in the dormitory where he lives.

"If Indonesia is considered dangerous, I think everywhere in
the world, including Australia, is dangerous right now. I've just
read that two students were murdered at a university in Australia
very recently. In other words, avoiding Indonesia doesn't mean
dodging danger," said Barker, who is studying at UGM's School of
Philosophy, School of Social and Political Sciences, and School
of Cultural Studies.

Because of his refusal to return home, however, Barker was
required to sign a statement saying that the Queensland
University of Technology would not be responsible for anything
that might happen to him while he was in Indonesia.

Tanya Fisher, a student at Curtin University, North Australia,
who is currently studying at UGM's School of Philosophy and
School of Social and Political Studies, shares Barker's opinion.

"They did not react in this way when the WTC was attacked last
year. Then why should they act like this now?" Fisher asked.

Australia, said Fisher, was not the only country that suffered
from the Bali bombings. Although Australians did suffer the
greatest number of victims since nearly half of those killed in
the bombings were Australians, she said the price that the
Indonesian people had to pay was no less severe.

"Can you imagine how many Indonesians will directly or
indirectly suffer from the economic impact of the bombings? And I
don't believe this impact will be short-lived," she said.

Citing the need for the Australian government to differentiate
between fighting against terrorism and maintaining good relations
with Indonesia, Fisher expressed a hope that her presence in the
country would somehow help Indonesia restore its image
internationally.

"We consider our being here, together with students from other
countries including Germany, Croatia, Korea, and Japan, as a kind
of a link connecting Indonesia and the rest of the world. We will
act as a kind of ambassador whose main task is to tell the world
what is really happening here," she said.

Fisher also said that their refusal to go home was also meant
as a protest against the Australian policy on Indonesia, as well
as the negative and uninformed responses by their respective
universities.

"We feel completely safe here," said Fisher, adding that they
had prepared themselves for the possible consequences of their
refusal to leave UGM.

Barker, Fisher, and Meckelburg all said they had been informed
by their home universities that they could forfeit any credits
earned at UGM for refusing to return to Australia, and that they
may have to repeat the same courses back in Australia.

A few also said that they had been warned that the Australian
government may withdraw their student allowances for
accommodation and living expenses, if they remained at UGM.

"It's not a big amount in Australia, but the allowances make a
difference here. Frankly speaking, it would cause me a lot of
difficulties, especially because we are not allowed to work part-
time while studying in Indonesia. Thank God, my parents are in
full support of my decision, so they have sent me money," said
Meckelburg.

Meckelburg, who is a labor activist and is preparing a paper
on tobacco farmers in Temanggung, said she believed that
Australia had made the wrong decision in warning Australian
citizens not to travel to Indonesia.

"I just hope my decision will have some significance on the
future. I'm taking the risk of losing credit for the whole
semester and of losing the student allowance, because I hope that
other Australian students will still have a chance to study
here," she said.