REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The House of Representatives (DPR) has urged the government to review its visa-waiver policy for fear it will threaten the state's sovereignty, "At several working meetings of the House Commission I with the Foreign Minister, we asked the government to review the visa waiver policy," Chief of House Commission I Abdul Kharis Almasyhari stated here on Thursday.

Almasyhari noted that the visa-waiver policy prompted many illegal migrant workers to enter the country. The policy has also caused losses to Indonesia's non-tax state revenues. "We also asked (the foreign ministry) to convey it to President Joko Widodo and relevant ministries," he said.

The House Commission I also reminded the Defense Ministry that the visa-waiver policy may threaten the state's sovereignty, he stressed. "We also reminded the Defense Ministry that it threatens the sovereignty of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia. This is because many Indonesians are not employed even as foreign workers enter the country," he explained.

Almasyhari, who belongs to the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), said the House Commission I will ask the government to follow up on its recommendations at the next working meeting with the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Minister. He reminded that many people have asked the House Commission I about the presence of illegal migrant workers in Indonesia as a result of the visa waiver policy.

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