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Immigration office imposes administrative sanctions on 1,382 foreigners
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he Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration slapped administrative sanctions on 1,382 foreigners, who violated immigration laws, from January to July this year.
Out of that total, 948 were deported. The directorate general also used other forms of punishment, including banning them from entering Indonesia, canceling their residence permits and imposing financial penalties on them.
The Immigration Office’s success in identifying foreigners, who violated Indonesia’s immigration laws and subsequently punishing them, was due to the close cooperation between the team members of the Secretariat of Foreigners Supervision.
As of July, the Immigration Office established 570 Secretariat of Foreigners Supervision offices across Indonesia -- in all of the provinces’ administration centers as well as smaller administrative units -- as mandated by Article 69 of Law No. 6/2011 on immigration.
The Immigration Office’s success in establishing close cooperation among representatives of different government institutions in its foreigners supervision offices is in line with the President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s spirit of Nawacita (nine goals), in which the government strives to enforce immigration laws more strictly, to boost foreign direct investments in the country.
The secretariat itself comprises elements from different immigration stakeholders such as the Indonesian Military (TNI), the National Police, Home Ministry, the Attorney General’s Office as well as the Manpower Ministry.
According to Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly, the Immigration Office cannot work alone in supervising all foreigners across Indonesia. By involving different ministries and institutions at central government level, he said, the office would strengthen its supervisory function by incorporating the different expertise that each of these different immigration stakeholders had in law enforcement matters.
“We need solid teamwork among the secretariat’s different ministerial and institutional elements to conduct our supervisory duties more effectively,” he said on the sidelines of a Secretariat of Foreigners Supervision coordination meeting in Tangerang, Banten, on Tuesday.
He added that local residents and media outlets could also play a role in reporting suspicious activities to the authorities.
Encouraging foreign direct investments
Besides performing its law enforcement duties related to foreigners living in Indonesia, the ministry also does its part in encouraging foreign direct investments in Indonesia by simplifying its immigration services.
“We continue to work [to boost foreign direct investments in Indonesia] by cutting red tape on immigration services in Indonesia to ease visa and residence permit issuances for foreigners in the country. These efforts, obviously, have to be in balance with our effort to legally supervise foreigners who stay in Indonesia,” Yasonna said.
The office has launched several breakthroughs in simplifying immigration services -- particularly visa issuances and residence permits -- by updating its QR code-based online application system to make the process faster and more efficient.
The online verification system also seeks to ensure that each foreigner, who wishes to stay in Indonesia, will conduct useful and productive activities that will benefit the national economy and stability.
