5 Indonesian detained for overstaying in U.S.

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Five Indonesian nationals have been detained by immigration authorities in the United States for violating their visas, taking Jakarta by surprise.

The Indonesian foreign ministry has ordered all representative offices in the United States to make regular contact with the local immigration and naturalization service (INS) offices to detect problems facing Indonesians. The order followed the detention of the Indonesians at INS offices in the states of New Jersey, Washington and California for overstaying their respective visas.

Indonesian Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Friday the "arrests" occurred due to a lack of information and communication between the INS offices and the Washington D.C., as he claimed that the U.S. had promised it would not take such an action against Indonesian nationals.

"There must have been a miscommunication between the U.S. officials because the U.S. federal government had promised there would be no arrest or mass deportations," Hassan said.

Antara reported on Friday that the latest Indonesian to be detained was Roy Sagala in Seattle, Washington as he was registering at his local INS office. Another three Indonesian citizens were detained in New Jersey and the other one in Los Angeles, California.

The U.S. recently enacted a policy that requires males above 16 years old from 25 countries, including Indonesia, to register their presence in the U.S. The policy, effective since Feb. 23, is part of its efforts to prevent terrorism.

The policy does not apply to green card holders (permanent residents) or Indonesian diplomats.

Jakarta sent a team to the U.S. to request flexibility from Washington on the policy as an estimated 100,000 Indonesians stay illegally in the country.

The team, who visited Washington two weeks ago managed to secure a promise from the U.S. not to detain or deport Indonesians, while the deadline for them to complete their documents was extended for one month from the original schedule of March 23.

Hassan said he only received reports of the detention of one Indonesian in Norfolk, Virginia, who was eventually released.

"The Federal government (in Washington D.C.) has guaranteed that there would be no arrest or detention of our citizens and the undocumented Indonesians would be given more time to complete their papers," he said.

He said Washington also permitted Indonesian embassy staff to be present at the INS offices during the registration period to assist Indonesian citizens.