Indonesia bans Ramadan exodus over virus fears

FILE PHOTO: Hundreds of Indonesian Muslims crowd a shopping area to purchase new clothes, a custom ahead of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Bekasi, West Java, on May 22, 2020, by ignoring government recommendation to conduct a social distancing amid concern to the COVID-19 coronavirus. (Photo by REZAS / AFP)

JAKARTA — Muslim majority Indonesia on Friday banned an annual exodus that sees millions travel across the vast nation to mark the end of Ramadan over fears of a surge in Covid-19 infections.

Travelers pack into airports, train stations, and ports across the nearly 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) long archipelago in a mass migration, known as Mudik, that is similar to China’s Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas.

Many heads to hometowns in time for celebrations at the end of Islam’s holy fasting month, a festival known as Eid al-Fitr.

Ramadan ends in mid-may this year.

On Friday, the government said it was banning the exodus as Indonesia — one of the worst-hit nations in Asia — rolls out a massive inoculation campaign.

The country earlier announced an ambitious target to vaccinate more than 181 million of its nearly 270 million people within a year.

“There will be no Mudik in 2021,” Culture Minister Muhadjir Effendy said in a statement, citing fears of spreading the virus and inoculation efforts.

But he added that some may get exemptions for “urgent travel”, without elaborating.

Fearing a public health disaster, the government last year slapped a ban on domestic sea and air travel and set up roadblocks to stop the cross-country movement.

But many took advantage of loopholes in the rules — as well as relying on people smugglers and bogus travel documents — to get around the ban.

Indonesia has officially reported nearly 1.5 million infections and more than 40,000 deaths.

But low testing rates mean the crisis is believed to be much more severe than those figures suggest.