Visas misused to fan separatism: Yusril

A'an Suryana, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra said on Thursday the change in the visa policy was prompted by the gross misuse of the visitor's stay permit that undermined the country's territorial integrity.

He said the revocation of the visa-free facility for 48 countries was sorely necessary, as the government had discovered that a number of foreign non-governmental organization activists and researchers had fanned separatism in the troubled provinces of Aceh and Papua.

Yusril said such activities had gone on for many years.

"The government must take preventive measures to ensure the sovereignty of Indonesia," he told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar at his office.

The Banda Aceh District Court sentenced in February British scholar Lesley McCullogh and American nurse Joey Sadler to five months in jail for visa violations. They were deported immediately after they had served their retroactive sentences.

Yusril acknowledged the new visa policy might discourage foreign tourists from visiting Indonesia, but stressed that the sovereignty of Indonesia was at stake.

"The losses resulting from efforts to defuse the threats of separatism are far more costly than the losses (that would result) from a decline in tourist visits," he said.

The policy to revoke the visa-free facility for the 48 countries will be effective Dec. 1, and the length of stay has been halved from 60 to 30 days.

The citizens of 10 countries or territories are exempted from the new policy under the reciprocity principle, as these countries have granted visa-free entry to Indonesian nationals. The 10 countries are: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macao, Chile, Morocco and Peru.

The country's bid to boost tourism was another reason to exempt certain countries from the new visa policy. The facility has been retained for countries whose citizens made up a significant percentage of tourists visiting Indonesia.

The government is also considering granting 23 countries, including the United States, Japan and Australia, with a visa-on- arrival facility.

Conventional visa application procedures will apply to nationals from countries not included in the two categories.

The new visa policy replaces Presidential Decree No. 15/1983, which granted a visa-free facility to nationals of 48 countries, with permission to stay 60 days.