Travel Advice

[Nev]

http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/zw-cgi/ ... /indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia overall This Advice is current for Monday, 18 January 2010.

Be alert to own security Exercise caution High degree of caution Reconsider your need to travel Do not travel
This advice has been reviewed and reissued. The overall level of the advice has not changed.

Summary
•We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Indonesia, including Bali, at this time due to the very high threat of terrorist attack.
•On 17 July 2009, terrorists detonated bombs at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and the JW Marriott Hotel in Jakarta. Australians were among those killed and injured.
•There is a possibility of further terrorist attacks in Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia, including Bali.
•Terrorists have previously attacked or planned to attack places where Westerners gather including nightclubs, bars, restaurants, hotels and airports in Bali, Jakarta and elsewhere in Indonesia. Analysts judge that these types of venues could be targeted again.
•In past years, we have received information about possible terrorist attacks in Indonesia in the Christmas and New Year period. Analysts consider that gatherings of Westerners over the Christmas and New Year holiday season may again be appealing targets for terrorists.
•We continue to receive credible information that terrorists could be planning attacks in Indonesia and that Bali remains an attractive target for terrorists.
•If you do decide to travel to Indonesia, you should exercise great care, particularly around locations that have a low level of protective security and avoid places known to be possible terrorist targets. See the Terrorism section for details.
•There were incidents of violence in Papua during the parliamentary elections in April 2009. There is a possibility of further attacks in the Papua Provinces, including attacks on infrastructure and national institutions.
•Since July 2009, there has been a series of violent attacks near the Freeport Mine in Papua. One Australian has been killed in these attacks. Further violence is likely.
•Australians should avoid all protests, demonstrations and rallies as they can turn violent.
•Reconstruction is underway in and around the city of Padang in Sumatra after a high magnitude earthquake hit this area on 30 September 2009. You should contact your tour operator to check whether tourist and transport services at your planned destination have been affected.
•We advise you to read carefully the sections on travel to Aceh, Central Sulawesi Province, Maluku, Papua and West Timor where additional safety risks exist.
•Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 has spread throughout the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) provides useful information for individuals and travellers on its website. For further information and advice to Australians, including on possible quarantine measures overseas, see our travel bulletin on Pandemic (H1N1) 2009.
•The WHO has confirmed human deaths from avian influenza in Indonesia, including Bali. The Indonesian Government has declared that rabies is present in Bali. See the Health Issues section below for advice to Australians travelling to or resident in Indonesia.
•You should telephone ahead for an appointment before going to the Australian Embassy (See Where to Get Help).
•Because of the serious terrorist threat we strongly recommend that you register your travel and contact details with us so we can contact you in an emergency.
•Be a smart traveller. Before heading overseas:
◦organise comprehensive travel insurance and check what circumstances and activities are not covered by your policy
◦subscribe to this travel advice to receive free email updates each time it's reissued.

[Nev]

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/669 ... indonesia/

Travellers told to reconsider IndonesiaAAP
January 20, 2010, 12:48 pm

Australians travelling to Indonesia have been warned to reconsider their plans because of a very high threat of terrorist attacks.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has updated its travel warning, saying there is a possibility of attacks in Indonesia including popular tourist destination Bali.

"Terrorists have previously attacked or planned to attack places where Westerners gather including nightclubs, bars, restaurants, hotels and airports," the latest advice reads.

"Analysts judge that these types of venues could be targeted again."

Three Australians were among the nine people killed in the suicide bombings at the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels in Jakarta last July.

The updated advice was issued as Indonesia's Garuda airline announced a new discounted travel package deal to Bali.

[Brad]

Just listened to the ABC's PM programme (Perth 720 @ 5pm) and they were saying that the travel alert was a media beat up. DFAT regularly updates travel advice and for some reason some journalists have thought that an update was a new alert.

[Nev]

The first post was from smarttraveller.com, DFAT's own site.
Nev

[Brad]

Sorry Nev, to avoid confusion when I said they, I meant DFAT and not the ABC. The ABC were interviewing a spokesperson from DFAT. As per the travel advice,

The overall level of the advice has not changed

.

As per your post from smarttraveller, the travel advice has been reviewed and reissued. It is not a new advice but an updated/reissued advice. Somehow people are interpreting this as a new advice. It isn't.

[Toucha]

Whatever you guys want to argue about as to the veracity of where the 'alert' came from.

I heard it on radio today. High alert for Bali/Indonesia. I believe this was from DFAT. They have reason for doing that. Whether or not they stop by doing that (they also put a high alert about 2-3 months ago) whether they then give notice to people who are bombers so they go to ground 'to wait for another day' I do not know.

Perhaps when DFAT combine with Indonesia and maybe they step up security and maybe potential bombers can't do what they planned to do.

The bottom line is that you would have to be crazy to travel to Bali or anywhere in Indonesia. Sad but true. I would not go to Bali/Indonesia if you paid me to do so. It would be too scary. Even if I took only hand-luggage I would be too scared. Corrupt customs officers could put dope or whatever even into my hand luggage and then I would be in jail for 20 years like Schapelle. They would contaminate my fingerprints....nothing I could do... Consul Australia is not there....while my bag goes through customs....dope or worse gets slipped in....I claim my bag.... 20 years in Hotel Kerobokan.

Thailand is fine. Lovely islands off China now. Good destinations. Same cost almost.

[Toucha]

Brad.

If I was to travel, and especially to Indonesia, where I know that 80+ Australians were killed in Paddy's Bar and elsewhere, then I would search the interntet and find that Bali is a real hotspot for radical Moslems.

Given the fact that they did Paddy's Bar and then the beach restaurant, you say -no - there will not be another attack Brad?

I think there is another one imminent which is why I would not go to Bali or Indonesia at all.

And would ask anyone going there to change plans.

Toucha

[Brad]

Brad.

If I was to travel, and especially to Indonesia, where I know that 80+ Australians were killed in Paddy's Bar and elsewhere, then I would search the interntet and find that Bali is a real hotspot for radical Moslems.

Given the fact that they did Paddy's Bar and then the beach restaurant, you say -no - there will not be another attack Brad?

I think there is another one imminent which is why I would not go to Bali or Indonesia at all.

And would ask anyone going there to change plans.

Toucha

Toucha, I never stated that there will be or won't be another attack. I am merely pointing out that DFAT already had an alert in place and DFAT updated it and reissued it as per the PM programme and the advice Nev posted, which goes against the journalists statement that there is a new travel advice.

Why do journalists get simple things so wrong?

[Kaibab]

Isn't the first rule of journalism to never let the facts get in the way of a good story?

[Toucha]

I think it is only a matter of time, that there will be another Islamic attack in Indonesia.

Why do I think that? These people are despots. They have carried out two bombings with loss of life. In Bali.They got worldwide coverage which is what they want. The suicide bombers. All of them.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... os/id.html


Approximately 50 countries are Muslim-majority.[2] Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia (the largest Muslim country by population, home to 15.6% of the world's Muslims[7]), Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.[2][8] About 20% of Muslims live in Arab countries.[9] In the Middle East, the non-Arab countries of Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the most populous Muslim communities.[8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_co ... population

Now, if you look at the law of averages, the guy from Nigeria who tried to blow up a plane entering US airspace on Xmas Day, and then the bombs in Mumbai last year, and then if you take into account the populations of Muslims in each country it is a given that Bali/Indonesia is a dead given that radicals will attack 'westerners'. The 'infidels'.

Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million adherents in such countries as Indonesia (

I reckon travel to Indonesia at your own peril at any time.

Toucha