Thousands of terrified holidaymakers have already canceled their trips to Bali after the proposal of new and stricter laws which threaten unmarried tourists with jail time of up to six months if they are caught having sex outside of marriage while spending their holidays in Bali, Indonesia.
While Bali has always been known as a ‘safe haven’ and the hotspot for tourism in the country, the authorities are now cracking down on ‘unruly’ tourists by proposing a new law that forbids people to have intercourse outside marriage while in the country.
As the authorities explained, it doesn’t matter if the act is consensual if the people participating in it are not married.
“Couples who live together without being legally married could be sentenced to six months in prison,” Article 419 explains.
In addition to fornication, tourists could also be jailed for performing “obscene acts in public,” meaning that yelling while strolling drunk around the paradise island could result in months behind the bars.
After the news of the controversial decree spread, human rights groups warned that the proposed rules contradict modern international laws.
“It is very serious. It’s a disaster and the two articles covering living together and extramarital sex were pushed by the Muslim brotherhood on ideological grounds. This will impact tourism, ex-patriots and foreign investment,” Andreas Harsono of Human Rights Watch said in an interview with Courier Mail.
As the human rights campaigners said, enforcing the law could lead to thousands of foreign visitors ending up behind bars, often without even knowing what they did wrong.
“The extra marital sex provision is new to Indonesia, it will create huge problems for foreigners if it’s enforced, though Indonesia is awash with laws that are never enforced,” Tim Lindsey of Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society said in an interview with Sydney Morning Herald.
“Will tourists have to take marriage certificates to Indonesia?”
Needless to say, the tourists are just as displeased with the “ridiculous” proposal as the advocates for human rights.
“The law has not even changed yet and I have already received cancellations. One client said they no longer trust coming to Bali because they are not married,” Elizabeth Travers, an Australian entrepreneur who is organizing trips to Bali, said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.
“I have traded through two bombings and multiple nature disasters and think that if the central government is serious about enforcing such laws, the tourism industry would be destroyed and trigger the end of life in Bali as we know it.”
The proposed law is currently under a “thorough review” as the authorities got slammed with negative feedback.
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Replaced!