Coronavirus: Immigration Denies Entry of 118 Foreigners
Translator
Non Koresponden
Editor
Markus Wisnu Murti
Jumat, 6 Maret 2020 19:20 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Immigration Directorate General has denied entry of 118 foreigners who previously stayed in China, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus.
“One of the reasons their entry was denied is because some of the 118 people stayed in China for 14 days,” said Immigration Traffic Director Cucu Koswala at the Presidential Staff Office in Central Jakarta, Friday, March 6, 2020.
Other reasons included body temperatures reaching over 38 degrees Celsius and refusal of being checked with thermal scanners.
The refusal of entry has been ongoing since February 6, or one day after the government declared a prohibition of entry on foreigners who had stayed at least for 14 days in China. The foreigners were directly flied back to the country they departed from.
“That is an international rule. The airlines carrying them must fly the passengers back. That is the rule,” he said.
Aside from China, those barred from entering Indonesia included foreigners from Malaysia, Thailand and European countries such as Russia, Armenia, Spain and South American nations like Brazil and Peru.
Cucu said most of the 118 foreigners were air travelers and intercepted at airports, and only one traveled by the sea at Batam Port.
Egy Adyatama | Translator: Galuh Kurnia Ramadhani
