Jakarta protests new U.S. discriminative visa policy

Jakarta protests new U.S. discriminative visa policy

Bambang Nurbianto and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government on Wednesday criticized the United States' new
visa policy targeting young Muslim applicants from 25 Islamic
countries, including Indonesia.

Acting spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Wahid
Supriyadi said such a new policy was "discriminatory" and that it
went against Washington's claim that the U.S. was leading a
campaign against terrorism, not Islam.

"If the regulation is true, we really regret the decision. It
shows the inconsistency of the U.S. government because they have
said they are not fighting Muslims but terrorists," he told The
Jakarta Post.

Washington announced last week a new policy requiring young
Muslims aged between 16 and 45 to apply for visas at least 20
days before they made trips to the United States. It used to take
one week at most to obtain an American travel permit.

The decision to expand the process for granting visas was
aimed at allowing U.S. officials to screen Muslim applicants
intending to visit America following the terrorist attacks on New
York and the Pentagon.

Malaysia had earlier lodged a similar protest against the new
U.S. visa policy, saying such a regulation was unfair to Muslims
and would weaken the U.S.-led global coalition against terrorism.

The Islam-based countries affected by the new visa regulations
include Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea,
Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia,
Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan,
Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Wahid said the U.S. administration had yet to notify Jakarta
of the new policy, adding that the American Embassy in Jakarta
was still applying the old rules for visa applicants.

"I have checked the policy with the U.S. Embassy here and they
said Washington has not yet provided them with any formal
notification on the new policy and that they are still applying
the same procedures," he said.

He said the government would understand should the
restrictions be based on other reasons because there were many
Indonesians who had frequently violated visa regulations.

"But, if the restriction is (imposed) because of certain
religious reasons, it's really regrettable," Wahid sternly
remarked.

Separately on Thursday, the newly-installed U.S. Ambassador to
Indonesia Ralph Leo Boyce said his office had reviewed the new
procedures for visa applications.

"Actually, just two days ago, we reviewed in the embassy the
procedures and approaches toward those who come in for visa
information and for visa interviews," he told journalists after
his meeting with Muslim activists in Central Jakarta.

"We will take into account the comments being expressed today
and we will continue to review the best procedures for visa
operations," he added.

However, Boyce said his office was not able to change the
policy of imposing a fee of Rp 500,000 (US$50) on each visa
applicant as it was applied in all American embassies.