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Govt to tighten supervisions amid arrest of Chinese nationals
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Two Chinese nationals, Li Jieshu and Wu Kaiyong, wait at the Central Kalimantan Immigration Office's detention center after being caught working illegally in Kunut village, Puruk Cahu regency. Immigration officials arrested them on April 1 as the foreigners had violated their visas. (Antara/Ronny NT)
T
he government has vowed to tighten the supervision of foreigners coming in and out of Indonesia following the arrest of five Chinese nationals at Halim Perdanakusuma air base in East Jakarta, a top official has said.
The five were caught illegally drilling within the air base area, allegedly for the high-speed railway project.
The government would keep improving management to strengthen the monitoring of foreigners' movements and activities, director general of immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry Ronny F. Sompie said on Wednesday.
Authorities were currently checking on the identities of the Chinese nationals and possible immigration violations. The men are employed on Indonesia's high-speed train project and trespassed in the Air Force complex.
"They only had limited stay permits for work purposes in Indonesia," Ronny said in Beijing, China, as quoted by Antara news agency.
He is on a working visit to China accompanying Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan at an Indonesia-China dialogue.
Besides the five foreigners, air base authorities also detained two Indonesian citizens who were caught drilling a hole in the ground, alongside the Chinese nationals, in the Air Force area on Wednesday.
The Chinese nationals were reportedly employees of PT Geo Central Mining (GCM), a partner of state-run construction firm PT Wijaya Karya, the company responsible for the Indonesia-China high-speed rail project (KCIC). Meanwhile, the two Indonesians are contract workers with PT GCM.
Data from the Immigration Office showed that 196 Chinese nationals returned to their home country in the first three months of this year for violating immigration regulations such as overstaying their visas.
Most of the Chinese citizens came to Indonesia in groups using tourists visas.
"As they visit the country as tourists, they also look around for job opportunities or other activities in Indonesia," he said, adding that most of them worked in mining, cement plants or power plants. (rin)
