In The Midst Of COVID-19 Increasing Cases, People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia Deputy Chairman Syarief Hasan Asks The Government To Ban Foreign Citizens From Entering Indonesia

Deputy Chairman of the MPR RI, Syarief Hasan. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Deputy Chairperson of the People's Consultative Assembly of the Republic of Indonesia (MPR RI) Syarief Hasan asked the government to immediately take a policy of prohibiting entry for foreign nationals (WNA) to Indonesia, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Foreigners who enter Indonesia have the potential to become a medium for the spread of the new variant of COVID-19, in the midst of the spread of COVID-19 which has not shown a downward trend", Syarief said in his statement, in Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Sunday, July 11.

This step, according to him, needs to be taken by the government because several countries have also imposed restrictions on the entry of Indonesian citizens (WNI) into their country.

He gave an example, in April 2021, Japan banned the entry of citizens from 152 countries including Indonesia, then Hong Kong which prohibited Indonesian citizens from entering the country as of June 25, 2021.

"Most recently, the United Arab Emirates and Singapore have banned Indonesian citizens from entering Indonesia during the COVID-19 emergency", he said.

Syarief assessed that the ban on the entry of foreigners into Indonesia during an emergency is normal because Indonesia is currently in an emergency situation, namely daily cases exceeding 30 thousand cases per day.

Therefore, according to him, the ban on foreigners is a relevant matter, because several countries have also banned Indonesian citizens from Indonesia.

"When we follow the example of other countries that managed to get out of the pandemic, they put strict restrictions on foreigners and people's movement, localization of cases, to rapid vaccination, so that COVID-19 does not spread continuously", he said

He also mentioned that other countries from the beginning carried out regional quarantine or "lockdown" to strict restrictions and then succeeded in reducing COVID-19 cases.

Syarief also urged the government to take stricter policies, for example evaluating the implementation of Emergency Community Activity Restrictions (PPKM) in the field.

"The government should make a comprehensive policy with domestic tightening and prohibition of foreigners from entering Indonesia during the COVID-19 emergency", he also said.