Indonesians going abroad must report online—ministry

The case of an Indonesian believed to have gone missing in Syria has prompted the Foreign Ministry to issue a regulation requiring any Indonesian traveling outside the country to report online before departure.

The regulation, which is aimed at helping the ministry to monitor Indonesian citizens abroad, will be issued in August.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said recently that his office was preparing a website that would function as a data center for all Indonesians traveling abroad.

He added that the website was created to help the ministry trace missing Indonesian citizens abroad, referring to the recent case of the alleged death of Indonesian police officer Brig. Syahputra in Syria.

Up until now, the Foreign Ministry cannot confirm the death of Syahputra because there is no report saying that he is traveling abroad.

“If he is missing, we don’t know where he is or where to look for him,” he said as quoted by tempo.co on Saturday.

To avoid a similar situation occurring again, the Foreign Ministry came up with the website plan and the regulation requiring citizens to report their whereabouts when abroad.