Indonesia is set to tighten its travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with all foreign arrivals soon to be suspended barring a few exceptions, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said today.
In an audio recording sent to reporters today, Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi said that President Joko Widodo has given the order to tighten Indonesia’s borders.
“We have decided that all foreign arrivals and transits in Indonesia will be temporarily suspended. Of course, the restrictions come with exemptions, including holders of KITAS, KITAP, diplomatic residence permits, official residence permits, among others,” Retno said.
Retno did not go into further detail about the updated travel restrictions, saying that specifics will be announced in the coming days in the form of a ministerial decree from the Law and Human Rights Ministry, which oversees immigration matters in Indonesia.
As such, it’s not yet known when the travel suspension will be enforced.
Indonesia last updated its COVID-19 travel restrictions on March 20, after which time visa waivers for all foreign nationals were temporarily suspended. Travelers coming from COVID-19 hot zones, such as Spain and Italy, were, and still are, banned from entering the country.
As of yesterday afternoon, Indonesia has confirmed 1,414 positive cases of COVID-19, including 122 deaths and 75 recoveries.
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