Prohibition Of Entering Indonesia, Wiku: All Countries Must Protect Its Citizens

Illustrated (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - The high number of positive cases of COVID-19 in the country has made 59 countries prohibit Indonesian citizens from entering their country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has even issued the highest level warning to its citizens not to enter Indonesia due to COVID-19 reasons.

Spokesperson for the COVID-19 Handling Task Force Wiku Adisasmito considered it reasonable for a country to prevent its citizens from traveling to other countries to avoid transmission from outside or imported cases.

"That in this world, COVID-19 is still a pandemic, so there is no country that is free from COVID. All countries must try to protect their citizens or society and Indonesia is no exception," Wiku said in an online press conference broadcast on the YouTube account of the Presidential Secretariat, Tuesday, September 8.

Seeing this fact, he appealed to the public not to travel between countries. This is because this has the potential to cause imported cases.

"As long as we can maintain or limit population mobility between countries, as well as within the vast country of Indonesia, that is the way we can control cases well," he said.

"So, we ask for understanding to all Indonesian citizens so that they can really protect their respective areas, the mobility of the population is limited to only essential trips, and actually carry out health protocols as we are heralding in order that there are no additional new cases. , "he added.

Apart from the United States, quoted from the September 5 edition of Tempo Magazine, one of the countries that has limited visits from Indonesia is Malaysia. The ban was issued directly by Malaysian Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on September 1, and came into effect last Monday, September 7.

Not only Indonesia. The Malaysian government also prohibits its citizens from traveling to the Philippines and India. The Malaysian government considers positive cases of COVID-19 in the three countries to have increased sharply.

At that time there were more than 187 thousand positive cases in Indonesia, with 7,800 deaths. The local government does not want immigrants from the three countries to infect Malaysian citizens.

Apart from Malaysia, there are 58 countries that also prohibit Indonesian citizens from entering. For example, Hungary, United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

According to the Indonesian Ambassador to Hungary, Abdurachman Hudiono Dimas Wahab, the ban was relaxed in August on condition that immigrants undergo two PCR tests. However, starting in September, the ban was again tightened.

Two Indonesian government officials quoted by Tempo Magazine said that since there was a ban on entry from 59 countries, the Indonesian government has not stayed silent. They are lobbying the country to relax these rules.

However, many countries still refuse or do not provide certainty. Some of these 59 countries not only assessed based on the high number of corona positive cases, but also how the Indonesian government's ability to cope with the pandemic.

In addition to 59 countries closing their entrances to Indonesian citizens, the United States disease control authority, the CDC, also issued the highest level 3 warning, so that travelers avoid unnecessary travel to Indonesia. This is none other than the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia.

Through its official website, the CDC appealed to tourists who are susceptible to COVID-19, such as older people with a history of certain diseases, to postpone all trips, including even important ones, to Indonesia. Some examples of important travel include humanitarian work, medical reasons, or family emergencies.

The website explained that the risk of COVID-19 in Indonesia is high. In addition, the CDC also notes that medical resources in Indonesia may also be limited. "If you are sick in Indonesia and need medical care, resources may be limited," wrote.