T

he number of tourists who misuse their visas having entered Bali has increased by almost 50 percent this year.

Ngurah Rai airport immigration official Mohamad Soleh said his office had deported 114 foreigners as of November this year, compared to 78 in 2013.

'€œMost were using a tourist visa to work in Bali,'€ he said recently.

In addition, several foreigners have been deported for committing crimes in Bali. '€œForeigners who have committed a crime and served their prison sentence are deported immediately on their release,'€ Soleh added.

He said the immigration office had actively deployed officials to investigate foreign workers in the province who were allegedly violating their tourist visas. They were focusing on Badung regency at this time, he said.

Badung regency is home to the most vibrant tourist areas and entertainment on the island, and incorporates well-known places like Kuta, Seminyak, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua. Ngurah Rai International Airport is also located in the regency. Tourism contributes more than 90 percent to the regency'€™s income. Teamed with Denpasar, Badung generates almost half of the island'€™s income, which has enabled it to become the richest regency, able to subsidize other less-fortunate regencies in Bali.

Data from the Tourism Ministry says that Badung accounts for around 37 percent of the nation'€™s tourism income.

Soleh said at least 70 percent of foreigners who violated their visas in Bali were Australian. Other visa violators were from the UK, France, Singapore, China, Norway, the US, New Zealand, Venezuela, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Ukraine and Ecuador.

The chairperson of the Bali Tourism Workers Association, Putu Satyawira Marhaendra, said tight supervision of foreigners working in Bali was of the utmost importance.

'€œIf immigration officers want to enforce the law, they just have to go to places in Kuta, Seminyak, Kerobokan and around other tourist areas. It is easy to differentiate foreign tourists from [illegal] foreign employees,'€ he added on Friday.

Satyawira said the presence of illegal foreign workers could harm the chances of locals to thrive in their homeland. '€œEspecially as we are about to face the ASEAN Economic Community. This is a big challenge for us,'€ Satyawira said.

Recently, the immigration office deported four foreigners who were working in Essensual Salon on Jl. Oberoi, Seminyak.

They were Britons Steven Thomas Gibbs, 25, Nancy May Evans, 23, Nicholas William Thomas Jones, 22, and American Marija Naloni Bozlee, 17. They had violated Article 122 of the Immigration Law by carrying out activities not in accordance with the granted visa.

'€œThey had different roles in the salon. One was a cashier, and the others were hairdressers,'€ Soleh said.

Earlier in March, the Ngurah Rai immigration office also deported two Australians for visa violations. Both were accused of working as journalists in Bali without the proper visa.

Daniel William Sutton, a Channel 10 reporter, and Nathan Mark Richter, a freelance photographer, were approached by immigration officials while covering a story about Schapelle Corby, a convicted Australian drug smuggler whose parole has drawn domestic controversy and international media attention.