New visa policy
New visa policy
Undeterred by earlier criticisms and oblivious to the sad fate
of a long-suffering tourist industry, the Indonesian government
for professed reasons of reciprocity, mutual benefit or security
announced its intention to discontinue its "visa-on-arrival"
facilities.
With the exception of 10 countries where Indonesian nationals
already enjoy visa-free entry privileges, only 23 other countries
have been shortlisted for the maintenance of "visa-on-entry"
facilities.
If the principle of reciprocity is to be assumed as a reason
for the government's new visa policy, how can this be reconciled
with the fact that 7 out of 15 European Union member countries
(United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and
Finland) who do not offer "visa free" privileges to Indonesian
visitors are nevertheless shortlisted for the maintenance of
"visa-on-arrival" facilities.
This would also mean that an Indonesian visitor with a valid
French visa could freely visit any of the European Schengen
agreement countries such as Belgium or Luxembourg whereas
visitors from these countries would be denied "visa-on-arrival"
facilities in Indonesia!
The fact that "visa-on-arrival" facilities for 8 European
Union member countries (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland,
Iceland, Sweden, Austria and Portugal) are to be abolished is
outright discriminatory and the question may be asked why the
European Union failed to negotiate a common visa agreement with
Indonesia for all its member countries.
The fact that certain countries should be granted "visa-on-
arrival" facilities while others are not is either inconsistent
or outright discriminatory and why should visitors from France or
Spain be more welcome than those from Luxembourg or Sweden!
The present "visa-on-arrival" policy has worked perfectly well
over the years and I cannot think of any benefits that could be
possibly gained by replacing it.
Older generations of travelers to Indonesia still remember the
days of yore when tourist visas had to be obtained abroad at the
price of lengthy bureaucratic hassles and paper-work, not to
mention payments of brokerage and "facilitation" fees.
While other tourist destinations fall over each other to
attract foreign visitors, the opposite seems to be the case in
Indonesia.
What Indonesia's long suffering tourist industry needs right
now is a shot in the arm and not another in the back!
During the month of December I'm expecting six visitors from
Luxembourg and for whom "visa-on-arrival" facilities would no
longer be available.
Consequently, they would either have to apply for a tourist
visa at the Indonesian Embassy in Brussels or cancel their visit
altogether!
JOSEPH LOUIS SPARTZ
Jakarta