Conflicting reports on immigration clarified
JAKARTA (JP): The Directorate General of Immigration yesterday denied conflicting reports that an Indonesian immigration officer in Malaysia was removed in connection with the controversy over the implementation of the new format of special travel documents (SPLP).
Director General of Immigration Roni Sikap Sinuraya told a press conference yesterday Mohammad Zainal Hasan, head of the Immigration Department of the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia, is not withdrawn from his position.
"Zainal will be assigned to a new post in Semarang, Central Java," Sinuraya said, adding that the new assignment has nothing to do with the dispute on the implementation of the new SPLP.
He told reporters reassignment of officers is a common and routine process everywhere, including in the directorate general of immigration.
He told reporters that Hamsuk S. Wijaya, currently head of the Immigration Office in Pekanbaru, Riau, will replace Zainal's post in Malaysia. Zainal will be assigned to head the Immigration Department of the Central Java chapter of the Ministry of Justice in Semarang.
Sinuraya said Bambang Subagyo, head of the Immigration Office in Surakarta, Central Java, will replace Hamsuk to fill in the post in Pekanbaru.
Workers
Sinuraya also said the Immigration Division of the Indonesian Embassy in Malaysia will be providing an additional service to the groups of Indonesians working in the neighboring country.
He said the immigration department will go to remote areas in Malaysia to serve the groups of Indonesian workers unable to come on their own to the embassy to renew their SPLP.
Previously the immigration division only provided services in two ways, either workers came to the embassy to renew their SPLP by themselves, or they use the services provided by five appointed Indonesian travel bureaus.
Sinuraya said the immigration department charges M$30 for the processing of each SPLP if the applicants come to the embassy and M$85 if they are served by the travel bureaus.
The Director General said the Indonesian Ambassador to Malaysia, Sudarmadi, has summoned the chairmen of the five travel bureaus providing the service, following complaints by many Indonesians.
They said they were forced to pay more than M$85 for processing a SPLP document, sometimes even as much as M$500. The result of the meeting with the five chairmen was not yet available, Sinuraya said.
"The applicants should report the name of the agent to the embassy if it charges a fee higher than the established fee," he said.
Sinuraya said recently that in line with international standards, the government has improved the format of the special travel document it issues to Indonesians intending to work overseas, or to Indonesians who lose their passports in foreign countries and need to return home immediately. The implementation of the new format began Sept. 1.
The travel documents, which have a fixed validity period, are issued in two colors. The new format of the SPLP for Indonesians comes with a light green cover.
Foreigners whose passports are lost during their stay in Indonesia will be issued a pink travel document to allow them to return to their home countries.(imn)