Polices are ready in front of Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu) in Central Jakarta (image credits: Tempo)

Tourism Ministry: 8 countries issue travel advisories following riots in Jakarta on May 21-22

On Thursday, Guntur Sakti the Tourism Ministry spokesman said that 8 countries in totals have issued a travel advisory for their citizens to travel to Indonesia following Jakarta riots  for the past two days. 

The 8 countries are Canada, United States, England, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. 

On May 17, the US was the first country issued the travel advisory, the Embassy released an official statement that advising to avoid areas where demonstrations or political rallies are taking place. They also encourage the US citizens to follow the embassy on Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) and to register on Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). 

England, Canada and Australia also published their travel advisory via government official website.  

Malaysia released the warning just one day after the US through its official twitter account @MYEmbassyJakarta calling its citizens to take preventative measures when visiting Indonesia. 

On May 21-22 the Philippines also issued the cautious via its twitter account, while Singapore and Thailand announced the travel advisory on their embassy website.  

A travel advisory or travel warning is different with a country bans. The country issued the alert does not prohibit its citizens to visit a destination country, but it gives information about relative safety for travelling.  

The Tourism Ministry spokesman said that the travel advisory is normally issued by a government as duty and responsibility to protect its citizens. He also emphasized that the alerts do not disturb Indonesia’s tourism sector.