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akarta: The government will remove Sri Lanka and Bangladesh from Indonesia’s immigration red list in late May, four months later than initially planned, a ministry official says.

“Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will be taken off [from the red list] soon,” the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s travel documents chief, Budi Satria Wibawa, said on Monday.

Budi said that the economy and security of both nations had improved, allowing the government to relax visa arrangements for Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi citizens entering Indonesia.

The ministry had intended to remove the two nations from the red list at the beginning of the year, with plans to remove Afghanistan and Pakistan later in the year.

Budi declined to comment when asked why the plan had been postponed, or if the plan for Afghanistan and Pakistan would still go ahead.

Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan are among 13 nations on the government’s immigration red list, in addition to Guinea, Israel, Iraq, North Korea, Cameroon, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Somalia.

Critics fear that the number of migrants entering Indonesia for resettlement, or en route to Australia might increase with the removal of countries from the red list.

There are currently around 3,660 foreign migrants in Indonesia, around 2,008 of which are from Afghanistan.

The Immigration Office has named Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Myanmar and Pakistan as countries which are the main source of migrants trying to reach Australia.

Only 10 percent of Sri Lankans entering Indonesia legally exited the country, while the remaining 90 percent could not be located, according to the office.

University of Indonesia international law scholar Hikmahanto Juwana said that the government should scrap its plan because “if something happens, Indonesia will bear responsibility. Money will be needed to return them to their countries.”

He also said that the decision would upset Indonesia’s neighboring country, Australia.