Day: February 4, 2022

International tourists traveling to Bali and Riau Islands on B211A tourist visas will be allowed to visit other destinations, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has informed.

“(International tourists) will be allowed to visit other regions and go home after immigration checks from those areas,” the ministry’s director of immigration traffic, Amran Aris, said here on Friday.

The Indonesian Government has allowed entry to international tourists through two points—Bali and Riau Islands, he noted.

According to Aris, international travelers holding tourist visas will not need to leave the country from Bali, but will be allowed to leave from other destinations, such as Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara.

The mechanism for the issuing of visas for tourism has been agreed upon by all stakeholders, he informed. In issuing visas, the Directorate General of Immigration is following the regulations stipulated by Ministerial Regulation No. 34 of 2021 and COVID-19 Handling Task Force’s Circular Letter No. 4 of 2022, he said.

For example, based on an agreement between ministries and institutions, international travelers coming to Indonesia are required to have health insurance and consider the possible risks of traveling, Aris explained.

Based on an evaluation, the amount of mandatory health insurance coverage was found to be a barrier for prospective international travelers coming to Bali, he said.

Therefore, the value of health insurance coverage was adjusted from US$100 thousand to US$25 thousand.

International travelers arriving in Bali or Riau Islands will need to furnish evidence of health insurance and show it during document checks to officers, he said.

Bali reopened international flights on Friday, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, informed.

The reopening of Bali’s international borders is only for international travelers who are not Indonesian migrant workers, he added.

Source: Antara News

Commissioner of the National Commission on Violence against Women (Komnas Perempuan) Maria Ulfah Anshor has said that domestic violence involves a toxic and continuous cycle.

“Exactly in the theory of domestic violence, domestic violence is like a continuous cycle,” she remarked when contacted by ANTARA here on Friday.

According to Anshor, the cycle of domestic violence is toxic and continuous in a married couple’s relationship.

The cycle begins with tension that triggers a conflict between a husband and wife, which then leads to violent behavior, such as physical, psychological, sexual abuse, she informed. Such conflicts can even be related to differences in economic backgrounds, she explained.

After a violent act happens, the doer apologizes, but the cycle of violence is repeated whenever conflict occurs, she highlighted.

Even amid the rapid development in the digital era, there are still many victims who are afraid to report domestic violence due to a lack of laws that protect victims, she said.

According to Anshor, the legal vacuum on domestic violence has been created by two things—the existence of unequal power relations in husband and wife relationships and the patriarchal culture, which normalizes hitting or shouting at women.

Many victims who have been brave enough to report domestic violence, have faced countersuits from the perpetrators, she said. The perpetrators usually accuse the victims of defamation, she added.

The legal vacuum can be seen when evidence is heard in court, she said. If a victim does not have sufficient evidence or witnesses who saw the incident, the case gets rejected and it does not proceed in a court of law, she added.

She then appealed to the community to change the way they communicate to create a safe and equal environment among people.

“My appeal is: let us make it a tradition, let us cultivate equal and fair communication between men and women,” she remarked.

Source: Antara News

As many as 1,308 cyclists will participate in Tour de France’s L’Etape Indonesia, which will be held in the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), from February 18–20, 2022.

“The participants will come from various regions throughout Indonesia,” regional secretary of NTB Province, Lalu Gita Ariadi, said here on Friday.

The provincial government will fully support the cycling event, he added.

“We laud the implementation of the event. Hopefully, we and all related stakeholders can collaborate to succeed the event,” the regional secretary remarked.

Furthermore, he assured that strict health protocols will be implemented for various international events held in the province.

Meanwhile, operational director of L’etape Indonesia by Tour de France, Alan Jala, informed that the race will be divided into two categories based on distance: 120 kilometers (km) and 90 km.

“In addition to thousands of amateur cyclists throughout Indonesia, dozens of athletes from NTB Province will also partake in the race,” he said.

Furthermore, a number of local micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) will also join the international event, he added.

“Local MSMEs will participate to enliven the event and to promote local products, which can be enjoyed by the participants,” the operational director remarked.

He also said that Mandalika SEZ was chosen as the venue for the event since the tourism destination is very strategic and beautiful.

“We chose Lombok Island to host the race since we have surveyed the location and seen its beautiful landscape and winding roads,” he added.

Tour de France is an annual professional men’s multiple-stage cycling race held in France.

Meanwhile, L’Etape by Tour de France includes a series of amateur cycling events designed to help participants experience the atmosphere of Tour de France. In 2022, 26 such events will be held in 21 countries around the world.

Source: Antara News

The Indonesian Anti-Doping Agency (LADI) has officially changed its name to Indonesian Anti-Doping Organization (IADO) after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) revoked its sanctions on the national institution.

The sanctions were a valuable lesson for IADO to reform the organization, Head of IADO Musthofa Fauzi said at the Youth and Sports Ministry’s headquarters in Jakarta on Friday.

“It increased awareness on the anti-doping mechanism. If there were no sanctions, IADO might not progress much, both regarding its legal aspect and recognition from the national sports community,” he added.

After the sanctions were imposed, IADO began to improve its organizational governance, he noted.

Furthermore, the organization head also emphasized the importance of support from the government and various sports stakeholders in creating a clean, professional, modern, independent, and WADA-compliant national anti-doping institution.

He said that during a limited meeting with President Joko Widodo and Youth and Sports Minister Zainudin Amali, the organization received support from the President for making fundamental changes and transformations.

“We worked together with all parties, including members of Commission X of the Indonesian House of Representatives, to improve to make national anti-doping management meet WADA’s requirements,” he added.

WADA officially lifted the sanctions imposed on IADO on February 3, 2022, through a statement on its official website.

“Following the approval of the Executive Committee, the WADA has removed, with immediate effect, the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADO) of Indonesia and Thailand from the list of signatories that are non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code,” the statement said.

The international agency noted that the two countries had fulfilled their obligations to regain their compliance status.

Previously, on September 14, 2021, the WADA Executive Committee had decided that IADO did not comply with the World Anti-Doping Code since the national organization did not meet the minimum annual doping test requirements.

The sanctions came into effect on October 7, 2021, after IADO did not object to the decision. Initially, the sanctions were to be imposed for one year.

Source: Antara News