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