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Nepalese man fined Rp 20m for violating immigration laws
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Enforcing the law: Ramli HS (right) and Rajendra Limbu (center) speak to journalists at the Makassar District Court on March 15. (JP/Andi Hajramurni)
T
he Makassar District Court has ordered Rajendra Limbu, 30, a Nepalese citizen, to pay a Rp 20 million (US$1,496) fine or spend two months in jail after he was found guilty of not having a passport.
Rajendra is the third foreign citizen the court’s judge has ordered to pay fines for violating immigration laws in March.
In a hearing on Wednesday, sole presiding judge Denny Lumban Tobing said the defendant was guilty of violating Article 116 of Law No.6/2011 on immigration.
Rajendra was taken into custody by immigration officials in Makassar on Jan. 8 after he failed to show the officials a passport or visa. He claimed his passport was being held by an agency facilitating his temporary stay in Makassar.
Limbu said he accepted the court’s ruling. He chose to pay the Rp 20 million fine instead of spending two months in jail.
“I’m ready to pay it,” Limbu said as quoted by his translator, Muhammad Rubi.
Ramli HS, the head of immigration at the South Sulawesi office of the Law and Human Rights Ministry, said Rajendra arrived in Makassar via Jakarta at the beginning of January. He arrived with eight other Nepalese citizens. They lived in a boarding house in Barombong.
Ramli said the illegal immigrants were making their way to Australia. They were promised by their agent that they would be immediately dispatched to Australia through an illegal route.
“They wanted to look for jobs in Australia. They are not asylum seekers,” said Ramli. (ebf)
