Visa-free facility to be scrapped

Visa-free facility to be scrapped

JAKARTA: The government is determined to scrap the visa-free
facility accorded to nationals of 48 countries in an effort to
prevent more of its misuse, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirajuda said on Monday.

"We are going to review it," he told journalists after
accompanying President Megawati Soekarnoputri in a meeting with
visiting Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar from Mongolia at the
State Palace.

Critics have said the visa's revocation could significantly
reduce the number of foreign tourists and businesspeople visiting
Indonesia.

Hassan said many foreign visitors had misused the facility to
engage in questionable activities, such as roaming the jungles of
Aceh.

A Scottish academic and an American nurse, both female, along
with their interpreter, were arrested in Aceh last month and are
in police custody. They may face charges of violating their
visas.

The two women have also been accused of possessing documents
concerning the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), but both have
denied the charge. --JP