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.