Fndonesians turn to smugglers to beat Aidilfitri exodus ban
JAKARTA: Indonesians are turning to smugglers and bogus travel documents to get around bans on an annual end- of-Ramadan exodus that could send coronavirus cases skyrocketing in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation.
Thousands are using any trick in the book to reach their hometowns in time for celebrations at the end of Islam’s holy fasting month this weekend, a festival known as Aidilfitri.
“It is a critical moment,” said Doni Monardo, head of Indonesia’s Covid-19 mitigation task force.
“I’m afraid people who go to other regions will come back infected and all of our efforts will be wasted.”
Every year, millions of travellers pack into airports, train stations and ports across the nearly 5,000 kilometre long archipelago in a mass migration similar to China’s Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas.
Fearing a public health disaster, the government last month slapped a ban on domestic sea and air travel and set up roadblocks to stop the cross- country movement.
It later relaxed those rules over concerns about a collapse in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, but only for those who could prove they were virusfree and had a professional reason to travel.
That loophole was not lost on Kamal and his wife who set about getting a fake certificate for their daughter, a university student in the capital Jakarta – the country’s virus epicentre.
With the help of friends, the couple said they managed to obtain a government-agency stamped letter that claimed their daughter was hired to distribute pandemic supplies in her hometown Makassar on Sulawesi island.
“We’re very worried about her health if she stays in Jakarta,” said Kamal, who asked that his real name not be used.
“But the most important thing of all is that we miss her so much. We want to celebrate Aidilfitri together like in past years,” he added.
Frustrated police are battling a tide of fake travel documents being sold online and through word of mouth, with authorities on holiday island Bali last week arresting seven people suspected of peddling bogus papers.
Markets have also been packed with throngs of shoppers buying food and clothes for Aidilfitri celebrations.
Some of the Southeast Asian nation’s mosques are expected to draw big crowds despite official calls to pray at home.
Widespread social distancing violations have generated a slew of angry responses – under the hashtag #WhateverIndonesia – from social media users fed up with fellow citizens’ blatant rule breaking.
But that has not done much to convince the people playing a cat- and-mouse game with police by hiding inside vehicles, under tarpaulins slung over the back of trucks, or even, reportedly, inside a concrete mixer.
Authorities say they have nabbed hundreds of drivers paid to smuggle travellers.
Indonesia recorded its biggest one- day jump in virus cases this week with the nationwide death toll at 1,326 – the highest in Asia outside China.
But infections and deaths are widely believed to be much higher in the country of more than 260 million, where testing rates have been among the lowest in the world.