Expatriates monitoring situation, confident of safety
A'an Suryana and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite a wave of demonstrations protesting the United States attack on Iraq here, expatriates living in Indonesia say they are not worried about being targeted by violence.
However, they admit to keeping an eye on developments so that they can prepare for all eventualities.
Christopher P.A. Bennett, a British governance consultant, said that, despite the rising tension here in the wake of the Iraq war, he still felt safe.
He said his feeling of security was due to the many years he had lived in Indonesia.
No foreigners had ever been killed during demonstrations in this country, even those organized by notorious religious groups, he said.
"I have been living here for over 20 years, but, individually, I've never received any threats that could put my live in peril," Bennet told The Jakarta Post in fluent Bahasa Indonesia.
A similar view was expressed by Greg Clough, an Australian expatriate, who works for the Bogor-based Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor).
Demonstrations are his main cause for concern, Clough said, but he was confident the protests were still manageable. He also said they were quite understandable.
"I am very sympathetic to those Indonesians protesting the war. I agree with them, and I am very disappointed with my country, which has decided to involve itself in this war," he asserted.
Australia and the United Kingdom are the U.S.'s main allies in the war, which began on Thursday.
Many expatriates share Clough's view, but for some, the demonstrations, which could easily turn violent, are a cause for worry.
They are concerned that the rallies could get out of control, and finally could result in casualties among innocent foreigners.
"It is absurd and almost surreal that these basically good civilian expatriates could become the victims of violence by Indonesians because of what is happening 10,000 miles away, and actually affects Indonesia in no way that I can possibly fathom," an American expatriate told the Post.
In order to prevent people falling victim to violence, he suggested that the country's leaders, especially religious leaders, educate the people so as to avoid demonstrations getting out of hand and endangering the lives of innocent civilians.
Clough said the fear of violent protests had prompted expatriates to prepare themselves for all possibilities.
"Our employer receives security advise regularly, and I read it. I then make my own judgment about the situation here based on the analysis," he said.
The U.S., British and Australian Embassies here have issued advisories telling their citizens to take steps to ensure their safety as a result of heightened risks associated with the outbreak of hostilities, including the continued threat of terrorist attacks in the wake of the Iraq war.
British Ambassador to Indonesia Richard Gozney said on Friday he had informed British nationals here to take precautionary measures, but denied he had ever suggested that they leave the country.
"I sent a message to all our nationals to be careful while they are staying here," Gozney said at the State Palace after a brief meeting with President Megawati Soekarnoputri.
"But I believe that the Indonesian Police will do their best to protect us and so far there is no evacuation plan for our nationals in Indonesia."
The ambassador also told the President that he had informed Prime Minister Tony Blair about Jakarta's stance against the war in Iraq.
"I conveyed the statement issued (by the President) yesterday to London so as to ensure that London understands the strong feelings here regarding the attack," Gozney said in fluent Bahasa Indonesia.