2,600 foreigners barred from RI
2,600 foreigners barred from RI
JAKARTA (JP): In 1995, 2,606 foreigners were barred from
entering Indonesia and 680 Indonesians were on the immigration's
list of people banned from leaving the country.
Director General of Immigration Pranowo told a hearing with
the House of Representatives that the immigration's blacklist
expanded last year compared to 1994.
In 1994, there were 665 Indonesians and 1,622 foreigners on
the list, he said at the hearing with the House's Commission III
for legal affairs.
Pranowo said that while some of the travel bans were imposed
by his office because the people violated some immigration rules,
there were also bans that were requested either by the attorney
general, minister of finance or the Armed Forces chief.
Pranowo was not in a position to disclose the reasons behind
the bans that were ordered by the attorney general, the minister
of finance or the Armed Forces chief.
By law, the attorney general can impose a travel ban against
people wanted by the police or those facing court trials while
orders from the minister of finance are usually connected with
tax matters. Travel bans ordered by the Armed Forces chief are
usually for political reasons.
According to Pranowo, of the 680 Indonesian barred from
leaving the country last year, 542 were barred by the attorney
general, 104 by the finance minister and 34 by the directorate
general of immigration. None were ordered by the Armed Forces
chief.
Of the 2,066 foreigners on the immigration blacklist, 1,601
names were supplied by the directorate general of immigration,
225 by the attorney general and 240 by the Armed Forces chief.
Pranowo also explained that his office has received
applications for naturalization from 208,820 people, mostly of
Chinese origins who have been stateless these past two decades.
Immigration authorities have already processed 118,573
applications and forwarded them to the Ministry of Justice. The
papers have then to be processed by the state secretariat.
He said that the President late last year issued an
instruction to the Ministry of Justice to speed up the process
for applications for naturalization. (16)