Indonesian to Keep Track of Countries Barring Indonesian Nationals due to Covid-19

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – The Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs continues to monitor the number of countries that restrict the entry of Indonesian nationals due to Covid-19.

The issue surfaced after Malaysia included Indonesia in its list of countries whose nationals are barred from entering its borders.

“We can confirm that a number of countries have barred [Indonesian citizens] from entering their borders due to Covid-19. We are currently putting them in our data,” ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said on September 7.

He declined to name the countries in question.

Also read: Malaysia to Ban Entry of Indonesian Citizens Next Week

“It is nothing out of the ordinary for countries to limit or prohibit foreigners from entering their borders today because of Covid-19,” he noted.

“Indonesia also has the same policy. [Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi] is currently negotiating a ‘business corridor’ with her counterparts in a number of foreign countries including Singapore to enable Indonesian citizens from entering, even if its for special circumstances.”

Faizasyah maintained that the government has already urged Indonesians to reduce or defer travel overseas since Covid-19 was detected in Indonesia and other countries.

”We advised [Indonesian nationals] from travel overseas because of health reasons and the limited number of connecting flights due to the [Covid-19] outbreak.”

Also read: Indonesia Will Not Provide Any Bases for Other Countries

Aside from Malaysia, the countries that have listed Indonesia as among nationals barred from their borders due to Covid-19 are Japan, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Brunei Darussalam.

The stringency on the enforcement of the bans by these countries vary. Some countries bar entry with no exceptions like Australia or Malaysia, while other still allow entry for humanitarian reasons, like Brunei Darussalam, Japan and Saudi Arabia. 

(Writers: Dian Erika Nugraheny, Luthfia Ayu Azanella | Editors: Kristian Erdianto, Jihad Akbar)

Sources:

https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2020/09/07/21114521/kemenlu-masih-mendata-negara-yang-batasi-masuknya-wni-akibat-covid-19?page=all#page2.   

https://www.kompas.com/tren/read/2020/09/07/200100965/selain-malaysia-ini-4-negara-yang-larang-wni-masuk-di-masa-pandemi-corona?page=all#page2.