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Immigration office deports sex worker to Iran
Theresia Sufa , The Jakarta Post , Bogor | Fri, 06/20/2008 10:34 AM | City
The Bogor Immigration Office deported Thursday an Iranian man, Omid Amery Mehr, who had been working in Indonesia as a sex worker since 2005.
The 35-year-old was caught in a shopping center in South Jakarta last month, a year after his name was put on a list of wanted people at the office.
The immigration office head Ibrahim Saleh said Mehr had violated various immigration laws, particularly those related to document forgery. He also gave a false reason for entering the country to obtain a visa.
Mehr came to Indonesia in October 2003 on a fake tourist visa, passport and travel documents under the name of Shahram Savari Garmli.
Ibrahim said Mehr threw out his fake documents in 2005 as he could not use them anymore.
Mehn then tried to register himself as an asylum seekers through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the country but was rejected.
Ibrahim said after being rejected by the commission, Mehr started to work as a sex worker in Cisarua, Bogor.
"He later expanded his operation to cafes and shopping centers in Jakarta," said Ibrahim.
Mehr was once detained on May 8 last year for having a counterfeit passport. He had been finding clients at a popular shopping center on Jl. M.H.Thamrin in Central Jakarta.
However, Ibrahim said Mehr later escaped from the office on July 31, 2007. He had been on the search list since then.
Indonesia is known for its humane treatment of asylum seekers, which has encouraged asylum seekers to come to the country.
