Mon, 09 Dec 2002

Bombings halt youth exchange programs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of Australian and Canadian youths have expressed disappointment over the cancellation of two separate youth exchange programs following the bomb attacks in Bali on Oct. 12 and South Sulawesi late last Thursday.

Dewa Diarta Nidha, chairperson of the youth and sports division at the Bali education office, said on Sunday that around 40 Australian and 20 Canadian youths had to cancel their visits to Bali next month following the deadly bomb blasts.

He said the youths would have attended exchange programs with their Indonesian counterparts in the Bali area of Kamasan, Klungkung, for three months previously scheduled to start this month.

"The cancellation is related to the bombing tragedy in Kuta, Bali," Dewa told Antara in the provincial capital of Denpasar.

Australia and Canada issued travel warnings to their citizens against visiting Indonesia after the Bali terror attack that killed over 190 people and injured some 300 others, mostly foreigners.

Dewa expressed the hope that the cancellation would only be temporary in nature until after security in Bali started recovering.

At least 20 other Canadian youths, who were on a similar three-month program which began early in October in Bangli, Bali, had to abandon the resort island before their program started.

Also, a separate group of 18 Australian students aged between 18 and 21 would have left for Indonesia on Dec. 9 to attend the Australian-Indonesian Youth Exchange Program (AIYEP).

They were scheduled to stay for two months with Indonesian families at Bulutana village, close to the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar which was rocked by a bomb blast last Thursday which killed at least three people.

The cancellation of AIYEP was decided by the Australia- Indonesia Institute (AII) in compliance with the warning issued by Canberra on its citizens from traveling to Indonesia.

"We are extremely disappointed with the cancellation as we have made preparations for several months to join this program," David Saxby, an AIYEP participant from Sydney, told Antara in Canberra.

He added that his fellow would-be participants felt the same.

David Reeve from the University of New South Wales, along with his classmates, admitted that the cancellation of the program was made on the basis of "safety considerations" due to the travel warnings.

"I doubt it is actually that dangerous, but as a person responsible for his students I have to be cautious and responsible," he said.

Deputy chairman of the Australia-Indonesia Association (AIA) S. Supomo, who is a lecturer at the Australian National University, concurred with Reeve and urged the Australian government to lift the travel advisory as the security conditions were getting better, despite the two recent bomb attacks in Sulawesi.

An Indonesian diplomat in Canberra, Imron Cotan, called for the revocation of the travel advisory in order not to hamper such a cultural program.

"We ask that the travel warning for Indonesia be scrapped because it is no longer relevant with the security situation in Indonesia," he told Antara.

He cited a positive stance taken by other countries such as Japan and European countries by scrapping their respective travel advisories to maintain bilateral ties with Indonesia.

Despite the absence of their Canadian counterparts in Klungkung, 20 Indonesian youths were planning to go ahead with the cultural program.

"But they will stay in Bali only for two days to visit tourism sites before continuing their travel to Makassar," Dewa said.

Last year, a similar program with Canada was also called off following public threats by Muslim militants here to round up and detain any and all Westerners following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.