"The hotline is meant to help Indonesians who may be having problems due to the rallies," Information Chief of the Indonesian Consulate General for Hong Kong, Sam Aryadi, said on Wednesday. Indonesians in Hong Kong can reach consulate officers on +852 365 10200.

The consulate would continue to monitor developments in the situation, Aryadi said. It has urged the Indonesian nationals to play it safe and avoid the areas where demonstrators have been gathering. The consulate further noted that there were as many as 170 thousand Indonesian citizens in Hong Kong.

The pro-democracy rallies have been on since last weekend, and protesters gathered even on China's National Day Holiday today (October 1). Citizens are protesting against the decision made by the standing committee of the National People's Congress on August 31, which denies them their right to elect their local leaders directly. The next elections in Hong Kong are due in 2017.

The rallies have been interfering with public activities. Some 157 schools declared a holiday on Tuesday (September 30), and 37 banks stopped their services, leading to some automatic teller machines going out of operation. The demonstrations have also disrupted the flow of traffic in the city due to which some ambulances and fire trucks could not reach their destinations.

Assistant Commissioner for Hong Kong Police Cheung Tak-keung stated that they had been tolerant so far in dealing with these protests had asked the demonstrators to call them off. "They have refused to stop, however, and we were forced to use tear gas," he said.