24 foreigners nabbed with forged passports

24 foreigners nabbed with forged passports

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam

Over the past seven months, the Batam Immigration Office has
apprehended 24 foreigners entering Indonesia with forged
passports. "It has reached an alarming level," said I Gde
Widiharta, chief of Batam Immigration Office.

Widiharta said that the 24 foreigners, most of them from
Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Singapore
and Iran, had all been handed over to the Immigration Office in
Jakarta to be prosecuted.

The practice was revealed when immigration officials in Batam
noticed irregularities in the shape of the passports.

The officials discovered the passport forgeries after noticing
discrepancies in printing and the number of pages. Testing with
ultraviolet light also revealed them to be fakes.

The foreigners entered Indonesian through several different
ferry ports in Batam, said Widiharta.

In Batam, there are at least five international gateways where
foreigners are allowed to enter Indonesia, namely Hang Nadim
International Airport, Batam Center International Ferry Port,
Sekupang International Ferry Port, Nongsa Point Marina
International Ferry Port and Marina Ferry Port.

"We will tighten surveillance on foreigners entering Indonesia
to ensure that no-one enters using forged passports," said
Widiharta.