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Indonesia's free-visa policy here to stay
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Two Chinese nationals, Li Jieshu and Wu Kaiyong working illegally in Kunut village of Puruk Cahu regency of Central Kalimantan are in the Central Kalimantan's Immigration Office detention center. Immigration officials arrested them on April 1 as the foreigners violated their visas. (Antara/Ronny NT)
T
he government says the freevisa policy will remain in place to boost tourism despite growing concern that some foreign tourists have exploited it to work illegally in the country.
During a year-end press conference on Thursday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly brushed off suggestions that the free-visa policy had led to a rising number of illegal workers in the country — those who first entered the country on tourist visas.
The minister defended President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s signature policy, arguing it could propel Indonesia’s tourism, which has been lagging behind its Southeast Asian neighbors. The free-visa policy is expected to bring 20 million foreign tourists annually by 2019.
“What’s important with regard to the free-visa policy is monitoring. If there are 9 million foreign tourists entering Indonesia, [we should ensure] that the same number of people are leaving,” Yasonna said.
Tourism Ministry data revealed recently that the country saw 9.4 million visits by foreign tourists from January to October, a 9.54 percent increase from the corresponding period last year. The total number of visits by foreigners to Indonesia in 2015 was 10.4 million, a 10.2 percent increase from the previous year.
First introduced in June last year, the policy initially allowed visitors from 30 countries to stay in the country for 30 days for tourism purposes on a free tourist visa. By the end of 2015, 90 countries were able to enjoy the facility. In March, 84 more countries were added to the list, bringing the total number of countries included in the policy to 174.
Indonesia has seen arrivals dominated by Chinese tourists every month, with 121,880 visitors in October alone. At 12.43 percent of the overall figure, China has topped other countries of origin, including Malaysia and Australia.
Following the wave of Chinese tourists this year, the Tourism Ministry aimed to attract 2.4 million Chinese tourists from greater China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong, in 2017, higher than its target of 2.1 million tourists this year.
The government is confident it can curb the number of overstaying tourists.
The Law and Human Rights Ministry is developing an app to track foreigners overstaying their 30-day free visa. Tourists entering Indonesia would get barcodes in their passports, which should be used whenever they purchase transportation tickets.
“We have a list of overstayers, so we can just look at our data. [With the app] it will be easier for us to track their movements,” Yasonna said.
The move comes following a crackdown on foreigners violating visas in Indonesia this year. Data from the Law and Human Rights Ministry’s Directorate General of Immigration revealed that in 2016, 7,787 foreigners, 1,837 of whom were Chinese, were punished for violating immigration regulations.
The crackdown has sparked a rumor that 10 million Chinese people have been working illegally in the country. Government officials said the rumor was started to fuel anti-China sentiment. President Jokowi has repeatedly rebuffed the rumor and called on law enforcers to take action against those who orchestrated it.
According to Manpower Ministry data, the total number of foreign workers officially employed in Indonesia as of November 2016 stands at 74,183 people, 21,271 of whom are Chinese.
The ministry has intensified inspections amid concerns of illegal foreign workers.
In its latest crackdown, the ministry allegedly found 18 Chinese workers that had breached the conditions of their work permits at PT Huaxing in Bogor, West Java. Some of them had allegedly been assigned to positions different from the specified occupation on their permits.
Several lawmakers at the House of Representatives, however, have called for the government to review the freevisa policy on account of transnational security issues. Democratic Party senior politician Syarief Hasan told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the government must evaluate the policy, otherwise it could threaten the country’s sovereignty.
“There must be a total review and evaluation. The policy gives no advantage to our country at all because it has no reciprocity basis,” said the member of House’s Commission I overseeing information and communications, defense and foreign affairs.
National Mandate Party (PAN) lawmaker Saleh Partaonan Daulay even suggested that the government revoke the policy because the country had yet to be able to monitor the foreigners entering Indonesia.
“As a consequence, foreigners can misuse the policy. In addition, coordination among ministries and related institutions haven’t worked well,” Saleh said.
