Immigration office helps Australia keep out illegals<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Immigration Directorate General announced on
\nThursday that the office had so far prevented 291 foreigners from
\nillegally entering Australia and had deported 114 of them.<\/p>\n
"The foreigners were netted between July 1999 and February
\n2000 at the country's immigration posts. They were trying to
\ntravel to Australia without proper immigration documents,"
\ndirector for immigration supervision and operations, Zaiman
\nNurmatias, said in a written statement.<\/p>\n
They included six Afghans, 39 Iranians, 223 Iraqis, three
\nMaltese, one Moroccan, 15 Pakistanis, three Saudi Arabians and
\none Sri Lankan.<\/p>\n
"They were captured in Bagan Siapi Api in Riau; Cilacap in
\nCentral Java; in Jimbaran waters off Bali; and on Rote island in
\nEast Nusa Tenggara," Zaiman said.<\/p>\n
He said immigration would soon deport 89 out of the 291
\nillegal foreigners who had been arrested for similar violations.<\/p>\n
"We will soon deport the 89 foreigners to their countries of
\norigin," he said, adding that 88 others had managed to escape
\nfrom immigration's custody.<\/p>\n
He said Australia was an attractive place to make a living,
\nespecially since Sydney was hosting this year's Olympiad.<\/p>\n
Immigration had discovered, he said, that the foreigners had
\nentered Indonesia from Jordan through Malaysia. Most of them had
\nreturn airplane tickets.<\/p>\n
"They also used faked visas which were organized by an
\ninternational mafia," Zaiman said.<\/p>\n
The implementation of the sticker visa system had forced them
\nto illegally enter Indonesia, he said.<\/p>\n
Zaiman admitted the Immigration Directorate General had
\nencountered difficulties deporting the foreigners, while citing
\nthat there were 61 Iranians and Iraqis in Kupang, East Nusa
\nTenggara, waiting to be deported.<\/p>\n
"We have requested help from the International Organization
\nfor Migration (IOM) to deport them," he said.<\/p>\n
"The IOM has agreed to cover travel documents, accommodation
\nand transportation expenses."<\/p>\n
"They are now detained at the Kupang Immigration Office under
\nthe supervision of local immigration and police officers," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Central Jakarta Immigration officials nabbed 22
\nforeigners from India, Nigeria and Somalia for allegedly
\nbreaching Indonesian immigration laws during a half-day operation
\non Friday.<\/p>\n
Dirman Sukardi, head of the Central Jakarta Immigration
\nOffice's monitoring and operational division, said they were
\nnetted in a series of raids at four hotels -- Alamanda, Tanah
\nAbang Indah, Fokus and Petamburan I.<\/p>\n
The raid was held by officials in an operation locally known
\nas Sipora, involving officials from the city administration, the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court, Central Jakarta Police and the
\nCentral Jakarta Immigration Office.<\/p>\n
"The illegal immigrants had entered Indonesia with
\ncounterfeited papers, which can easily be obtained in Bangkok,"
\nDirman said.<\/p>\n
Head of the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Law and
\nLegislation Iman Santoso, who was invited to observe the
\noperation, said the operation was held to nab notorious illegal
\nimmigrants.<\/p>\n
"We want to prevent cases where tourists extend their tourism
\nvisas, while they are here for business activities," he said.<\/p>\n
He said the coordination between the city administration, the
\ndistrict court, the police and the immigration office was to
\nensure proper handling of problems in the field, citing possible
\ncases of weapon and drug possession which would need police
\ninvolvement. (06\/nvn)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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