Conflicting reports on immigration clarified

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not withdrawn from his position.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)