Foreign Affairs Ministry Issues Warning to Citizens in Australia
14 February 2015 21:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Foreign Affairs Ministry called on Indonesian citizens in Australia to heighten their vigilance ahead of executions of two Australian drug smugglers, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.
“Please avoid possibly dangerous places,” Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson Armanatha Nasir told Tempo on Saturday, February 14, 2015.
Armanatha said that the ministry is fully aware of Australian public anger against the executions. Therefore, the ministry called on Indonesian citizens not to be provoked by any provocative actions.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry, Armanatha added, is not prohibiting Indonesians to visit Australia.
“We issued a circular letter for Indonesian citizens in Australia to raise their awareness,” he said.
Armanatha explained that the situation in Australia is relatively safe.
“[We] haven’t received any reports from Indonesians there [in Australia] so the situation is safe, but [they] must remain on high alert,” Armanatha said.
Earlier in an interview with Radio Fairfax, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop said that her country could conduct a boycott against Indonesia if President Joko “Joko” Widodo insisted on executing two death-row inmates for smuggling drugs. According to Julie, the Australian government could restrict its citizens to visit Bali.
Bishop added that the boycott might threaten Indonesian tourism since Bali is a favorite destination for Australians.
AFRILIA SURYANIS