March 3, 2005
One of Australia's
most highly regarded Indonesia
experts has been banned from entering the country in a move reminiscent of
restrictions imposed by the Soeharto regime.
Edward
Aspinall, of Sydney University, arrived in Jakarta with a business visa on Tuesday night
en route to help an aid agency in Aceh. He was told his name had been placed on
a blacklist on February 25, and he was sent back to Sydney on the same flight.
He is the
first academic to be banned from Indonesia
since the election of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and the move against
someone well known for his moderate views and articles has shocked experts on Indonesia
around the world.
Dr
Aspinall said he had lost count of the number of times he had been to Indonesia since
he first lived in Java when he was 14. He was at a loss to know why he had been
banned now.
"I
am shocked and confused, I find it very hard to know why," he said.
"The staff were very polite and showed me a document which said the reason
for the ban was a letter from the Indonesian ambassador, dated February 25, the
same day I was issued a visa at the Indonesian consulate in Sydney."
Dr
Aspinall was going to Aceh as a consultant for an Australian aid agency project
when he was stopped. Several weeks ago he did voluntary work in Aceh
translating for Australian doctors treating patients in hospital.
Last
night, Indonesia's
ambassador in Canberra,
Imron Cotan, confirmed he had called for Dr Aspinall to be kept out of the
country but refused to say why.
Dr
Aspinall was recently attacked by the Indonesian embassy's second secretary,
Dino Kusnadi, when he was quoted by the Herald
criticising the separatist rebels of the Free Aceh Movement.
Although
such comments would normally attract praise, Mr Kusnadi wrote to the Herald describing Dr Aspinall as someone
"long known to harbour anti-Indonesian sentiments".
Dr
Aspinall has recently accepted an Australian
National University
appointment to take over from Dr Harold Crouch, one of the country's leading
experts on Indonesia.
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Leonie Wittman
R/Senior Curriculum Adviser
Languages Unit
Curriculum K-12 Directorate
3a Smalls Rd
Ryde NSW 2112
Tel:9886 7681
Fax: 9886 7160
Email: leonie.wittman@det.nsw.edu.au
