Batam plans to expel illegal residents

Batam plans to expel illegal residents

Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau

Batam mayoralty administration plans to send home all
domestic migrants who cannot show their Batam identity cards in
an operation aimed at curbing crime on the island located in Riau
province, officials here said on Tuesday.

Batam population office head Zulkifli said the probe would
begin later this month to check the IDs, locally known as KTP, of
the more than 530,000 residents living on the industrial island.

"Anyone who does not have a proper ID will be sent back to
their home province. But we will still give them some opportunity
to arrange for a proper ID if they qualify as a legal resident,"
he told The Jakarta Post.

Zulkifli did not specify a deadline.

Based on data from the local population office, only around
388,000 of the 530,000 people in Batam hold legitimate identity
cards from the mayoralty administration.

"It means that around 142,000 residents do not have IDs,"
Zulkifli added.

He said the ID checks will be done later this month across the
island, but added that his office would not reveal the precise
timetable in order to prevent unexpected problems.

The ID action would hopefully cut down on the increasing rate
of crimes in Batam, blamed largely on illegal migrants, and to
keep tabs on the legal residents, Zulkifli said.

The planned raids have, however, sparked protests from local
residents and activists, who accuse the Batam administration of
trying to collect exorbitant fees from people who do not have a
valid ID card.

"I think what will be done by the city administration is
extreme, amid the current difficulties for residents to make a
living in Batam," said Yudi Kurnain, chairman of non-governmental
organization the Young People's Front (BOM).

He said that if the Batam administration truly wanted to
reregister local residents, it should just make it easier go
through the proper ID card procedures.

Yudi said the large number of residents in Batam without
proper resident permits was clear evidence of the difficulties
involved in arranging IDs, including the high fees charged, all
of which prevents many from obtaining one.

Yanna Imelda Rappar, a 25-year-old migrant resident from
Tetelu district in North Sulawesi, admitted that it was too
expensive to obtain an ID in Batam compared to her home province.

Recalling her friends' experience in arranging IDs at the Batu
Ampar subdistrict in Batam, officials there charged them Rp
300,000 each.

"I've just begun to work here. How can I fork out half of my
salary to get an ID? If the Batam administration wants to send me
home, I will leave it to them, provided they give me
transportation money to get back," Yanna said.

Despite the relatively high cost, each local administration
has the legal right to determine the fee charged for ID cards.

Most of the people living in Batam, just 20 kilometers from
Singapore, are migrants from provinces across the country, who
went there to find jobs after it was turned into an industrial
island during former president Soeharto's rule.

The influx of migrants has long been a serious issue and the
cause of many social problems, but essentially remains
unresolved.