Immigration Office Says Border Restriction Depends on Covid-19 Task Force
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19 January 2022 13:11 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The directorate general of immigration at the Law And Human Rights Ministry on Wednesday announced that they do not have the authority to restrict or open borders amidst the increasing number of Omicron infection cases.
Immigration partnership director Agus Widjaja explained that the authority lies with the Covid-19 Task Force as it directly correlates to public health interests.
“Because amidst the pandemic, the task force has the authority related to public health. We cannot decide when to open or restrict it. We can only follow orders from the task force,” said Agus at the Law and Human Rights Ministry headquarters on January 19.
However, he said visa exemptions are still granted for those who carry out special tasks, namely humanitarian missions for health, such as vaccine deliveries.
Simply, he said visa exemptions do not apply to international visitors who intend to visit for recreational purposes.
Two days prior, Indonesia’s Covid-19 cases reached 1,054 daily cases that is mainly driven by the transmission of Omicron variant. The last time Indonesia logged over 1,000 daily cases was in October last year.
Read: Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Denies Entry of 782 Foreigners
ARRIJAL RACHMAN
