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