Common Visa Not To encourage Transnational Crime

Nusa Dua (Antara Bali) - The use of a common ASEAN visa will not lead to an increase in transnational crime, an international relations expert said.

"It will not increase transnational crime. I am sure the ASEAN governments have already carefully thought through the possibility and concluded it will not,"  international relations expert Hariyadi Wiryawan said when contacted here on Saturday.

He said before they agreed to support the idea of a common visa system, the ASEAN leaders must have considered everything carefully, including the security aspects.

Moreover, he said, ASEAN would not be the first region to apply a common visa policy.

"The European Union introduced it a long time ago. Also, I think, the ASEAN's system will not be the same as the European Union's," he said.

He even viewed that the common visa would benefit ASEAN a lot because a non-ASEAN citizen visiting a country in the region would not be required to have visa before visiting the rest of ASEAN members, so that it would increase the arrivals of foreign tourists.(**)