Harassment by immigration officials<\/p>\n
It seems that things are getting worse, much worse, in certain
\nareas of the Indonesian bureaucracy. And the immigration
\ndepartment seems to be the worst of all. Virtually every
\nexpatriate of my acquaintance has a "horror" story to tell, while
\nmore and more tourists are complaining of harassment from
\nimmigration officials.<\/p>\n
Just this week, a British tourist, a fairly frequent visitor
\nto Indonesia, a country he is rather fond of, returned to Jakarta
\nfrom Singapore, where he had gone to extend his visa in order to
\nspend another month here, only to be subjected to what I can only
\ndescribe as intimidation. This took the form of verbal abuse,
\nshouting and denigration of his character and motives from the
\nimmigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport.<\/p>\n
They demanded he show them US$2,000 or its traveler's cheque
\nequivalent, which they claim every tourist should be carrying,
\nand threats were made to put him on the first flight out of the
\ncountry. There is indeed a regulation that incoming visitors have
\nthis sum available but that in no way justifies the treatment,
\nwhich went on for a period of two and a half hours, he was given.<\/p>\n
During this time, there was a constant stream of other
\nharassed individuals through the office, each "coughing up" money
\nto the officials. Many of these hapless victims were, it seems,
\nIndonesians returning from abroad. One official, the tourist
\nalleged, placed his feet on the desk. As a sign of respect? It is
\na fact that one's first impression of a country is a lasting one.
\nIs the Ministry of Tourism aware that immigration officials are
\ncreating a negative impression of the country on tourists. The
\nministry should be doing something about it!<\/p>\n
I have had enough bad experiences over the years with the
\nimmigration officials at Soekarno-Hatta Airport to disbelieve
\nthis tourist.<\/p>\n
DAVID JARDINE<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/harassment-by-immigration-officials-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }