Permit processing for foreign researchers 'easy'
Permit processing for foreign researchers 'easy'
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister for Research and Technology M.
Hatta Rajasa said here on Monday that the processing of permits
for research activities by foreigners in Indonesia was not as
complicated as thought.
Hatta, who has only been at the helm for the past week,
reiterated that its procedure is very simple and doesn't take a
long time.
He made the remarks in response to the questioning of six
German students for alleged immigration violations. The students
were here to do a demographical survey in a slum area of Karang
Anyar in Central Jakarta.
According to the police, the six were part of a group of 27
students from the University of Bonn who arrived in Jakarta on
tourist visas on Friday.
Many people attributed the frequent incidents of immigration
violations to the arduous and time-consuming procedures for the
processing of research permits in the country.
Hatta said that the government had assigned a special team to
assess applications submitted by foreign researchers intending to
get a permit to carry out studies in the country.
The team comprises the Agency for the Assessment and
Application of Technology (BPPT), the Indonesian Institute of
Sciences (LIPI), the State Intelligence Coordinating Agency
(Bakin), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Police,
the Attorney General's Office and the Ministry of Justice and
Human Rights.
Marzan Aziz Iskandar, BPPT representative in the team,
explained that individual researchers were not allowed to enter
the country.
Only institutions or universities are allowed to send a
proposal on behalf of the individual researcher to LIPI before
being evaluated in the team's monthly meeting, he said.
Marzan said the evaluation usually focused on several topics,
ranging from the subject of the research and its location to
whether the research had ever been conducted by other researchers
or not.
Foreigners are not allowed to go to troubled provinces such as
Aceh and Maluku, nor are they permitted to study our marine
resources" he told The Jakarta Post.
Marzan also said that researchers, who failed to give regular
reports on their research activities, would receive a negative
assessment.
After the permit is issued, the researchers may go to the
immigration office to get their research visa for a specified
period of time depending on their request.
"This procedure takes at least three months and is not
difficult at all," Marzan said.
Hatta said that Indonesia was open to foreign researchers
intending to carry out research in the country but not without
the proper permits.
"Research is universal, therefore it is beyond boundaries. But
researchers should hold a permit, they should not just be let
loose.
"However, the bureaucracy for the permit processing should not
be too tight because such research is purely for the sake of
science. (bby)