Head of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Moeldoko said the government plans to tighten travel requirements abroad. This was done after the results of the investigation carried out by KSP with the Directorate General of Immigration at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights showed that there were still many people traveling abroad for tourist purposes. “It is reported that there are still a large number of people going abroad for tourism purposes. The results of the deepening of KSP with the Directorate General of Immigration, conditions for overseas travel need to be tightened," said Moeldoko in a KSP press release, Wednesday (19/1/2022). According to Moeldoko, one of the challenges in implementing restrictions is identifying the destination of people going abroad. Because, he said, practice in the field shows that not a few people go abroad claiming to work, but actually for tourism and vice versa. So the government will coordinate further to follow up on the planned restriction. "Later, the Directorate General of Immigration will coordinate with KPCPEN, the Task Force, and the Ministry of Health to follow up on this plan," said Moeldoko.
He continued, the plan to tighten travel conditions abroad would be excluded for Indonesian migrant workers (PMI), students, and parties with urgent interests, such as health or humanitarian reasons. Moeldoko added, based on the Ministry of Health as of January 15, 2022, of the 748 Omicron cases detected in Indonesia, 75 percent of Omicron came from PPLN. The majority came from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Malaysia, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates. On this basis, the government appeals to the public to refrain from traveling abroad unless it is essential. Previously, President Joko Widodo said, currently Indonesia is experiencing an upward trend in Covid-19 cases caused by the variant from South Africa. Therefore, he asked all parties to be aware of this trend, but not to overreact. "Be careful you need to be careful, you need to be vigilant, but don't cause fear and don't cause panic," he said in a video caption via the Presidential Secretariat YouTube, Tuesday (18/1/2022). To reduce the rate of transmission of Omicron, the Head of State also emphasized several things. First, the president asked the public to reduce mobility. “If you, ladies and gentlemen, do not have an urgent need, it is better to reduce activities in crowded centers. And for those who can work from home (WFH) do work from home," he said. "I also ask not to travel abroad if there are no important and urgent matters," said Jokowi.
