Travel warning gentle reminder of civilian protection

Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Indonesian government has continually played down the travel warnings issued by Western countries, but as it turns out, Indonesians are the most wary as the Christmas/New Year holiday season approaches.

The issue of citizen protection, is not likely something to be proud of for the Indonesian government.

Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States are among the countries that have advised their citizens against traveling to Jakarta and certain conflict areas like Aceh, Papua, Maluku, Sulawesi (Central, West, South and Southeast Sulawesi), Bali and East Nusa Tenggara, and to leave the country during the holiday period.

The travel warnings also mentioned addresses -- usually of embassies -- that people could contact in times of emergency.

Australia was more specific in its warning, as it mentioned the Hilton Hotel as a place that might be targeted by terrorists.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirayuda apparently opposed such warnings and stated last Friday that the travel advisories could impair cooperation in the fight against terrorism. "Indonesia has had travel warnings in the past three years, and in reality, what was feared has never happened."

But in reality, there were several advisories before the Australian Embassy bombing in September, including from Australia.

The United States is the latest country to issue a travel advisory.

The new U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, B. Lynn Pascoe, in his first meeting with the Indonesian media at the embassy here on Tuesday, said that travel advisories were essentially the government's effort to protect its citizens abroad.

"The travel warning is very simple. The U.S. has an obligation under its own law that we have to tell American citizens in any country around the world -- very straight and very honestly -- what we see as the security situation at that time.

"And if you go on the state department website, you will notice that we have some type of statement for almost every country in the world. They are in varying gradations, but we tell people where they should not travel to, what problem we see, why we see difficulties, where we don't see difficulties," he said.

Pascoe also acknowledged that the U.S. government had received numerous complaints from countries on the list, especially regarding tourism.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer has said that concealing information on security from its citizens would ignite a national scandal.

Jamie, a British expatriate living and working in Jakarta, said that his government could be held legally accountable should they fail to protect their citizens abroad through, among other methods, a travel warning.

"This is also a sort of moral obligation ... or the government could be sued for negligence," he said.

Since the "war on terror" was declared after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S., Indonesia has seen three major terror bombings in Jakarta and Bali. The criminal acts have either been blamed on extremists, or in the case of Bali, some have confessed.

The October 2002 bombing in Kuta, Bali, which took the lives of 88 Australians, was a rude awakening for the international community that terrorists here were hitting "soft" targets, such as shopping malls, restaurants, schools, transportation systems and places of worships.

The Indonesian government's assurance that it would beef up security ahead of Christmas and New Year may not provide relief for some local people.

Fransiskus, 47, said that he had been attending mass held at a Catholic hospital -- which serve the hospital's patients -- in Central Jakarta instead of his regular church since Sept. 11, 2001.

"I believe that going to a mass at the hospital is less dangerous than the church. Besides, my wife is in a wheelchair. If a bomb explodes at our church, it would be hard for us to get out of the building," he said on Tuesday.

Parulian, 34, said he was also cautious about a possible attack at his church in Bekasi. Moreover, most churches had very light security, except for big churches like the cathedral at Lapangan Banteng in Central Jakarta.

"I told my wife we should sit in the back, closer to the exit door," he said.

Widya, 27, also shared a similar concern. She is a regular at Santa Anna Catholic church in East Jakarta, which was bombed in July 2001, leaving one churchgoer dead.

"This year, I will attend mass at a church at Cipayung (East Jakarta). I'm very cautious, though, because the mass is being held at a school near the Doulos complex. The church does not have a permit to operate there," she said. The Doulos complex, which used to house a theological school, was attacked in 1999, claiming another life.

Last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono asked Indonesian diplomats to increase protection of Indonesian citizens abroad. But his true challenge may be protecting people right here on home soil.