Corruption at the Directorate General of Immigration Linked to the Surge in Chinese Foreign Workers?
REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – Allegations of widespread corruption at the Directorate General of Immigration within the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Imipas), currently being investigated by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), are linked to the massive influx of foreign workers into the country. Large illicit profits were allegedly obtained through bribery in the processing of Limited Stay Permits (KITAS) and Permanent Stay Permits (KITAP).
As an illustration, from 2023 to the end of 2024, there was an increase in the number of foreign workers in Indonesia from 168,048 to 183,964, according to data from the Ministry of Manpower. This means that during that period, there were 15,916 arrivals and immigration permits issued.
Of the total foreign workers in Indonesia in 2024, 101,953 workers came from China. This figure represents 55.42 percent, or more than half of the total number of foreign workers.
The number of workers coming from China far exceeds the next highest, which is 14,982 workers from Japan (8.14 percent), followed by South Korea with 12,948 workers (7.04 percent), India with 9,388 workers (5.1 percent), Malaysia with 6,274 workers (3.41 percent), and the Philippines with 4,631 workers (2.52 percent).
The massive influx of foreign workers then became a means of making illicit money at the Directorate General of Immigration. In the recent case involving immigration officials and the Directorate General of Immigration, the KPK has traced the criminal acts back to 2024.
Not only the processing of KITAS and KITAP, but also the extension of Visit Permits (ITK) and Visa on Arrival (VoA) has become a source of illicit gains. Data obtained by Republika shows that regional immigration offices received around IDR 900,000 to IDR 1.1 million per person for these extensions.
One agency for Chinese foreign workers stated that it charges IDR 2.5 million for processing ITK extensions and IDR 1.3 million for processing VoA extensions. Of this amount, the regional immigration offices involved allegedly pocketed between IDR 900,000 and IDR 1.2 million per person for ITK extensions, while receiving between IDR 500,000 and IDR 750,000 per person for VoA extensions.
The profits accumulated from this processing then flowed to the suspects from the regional immigration offices and from the Directorate General of Immigration and the Ministry of Imipas. Each month, the top officials of the regional immigration offices involved could receive illicit funds ranging from IDR 100 million to IDR 140 million.
Furthermore, collusion in several immigration offices regarding the enforcement and arrest of foreign nationals who violate their stay permits also generates its own profits, reaching up to IDR 50 million per week or IDR 100 million per month. At the Ministry of Imipas and the Directorate General of Immigration, the funds allegedly flowing to the officials who are KPK suspects total almost IDR 600 million per month.