Deported Frenchman caught returning with false identity

JAKARTA (JP): The government has deported a Frenchman for attempting to enter the country using a fake identity after he had been blacklisted for working in Indonesia illegally, an immigration official said on Friday.

Vu Anh Quanh was deported to Singapore from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on a Garuda Indonesia flight on Thursday, the director of supervision and law enforcement at the immigration office, Zaiman Nurmatias, said.

"He had come back to Indonesia under a new name," he said, without giving further details.

According to Zaiwan, Vu's deportation was conducted under the watchful gaze of the airport's security authorities and top immigration officials, including Director General of Immigration Pranowo.

The extremely tight security was necessary because the immigration officials had learned that someone desperately wanted Vu to remain in the country, Zaiman said in a statement.

The official, however, was not willing to disclose further details.

Zaiman said Vu's arrival was firstly detected on Wednesday shortly after his arrival with a group of Australian tourists at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali.

The immigration headquarters in Jakarta was then informed that Vu was on his way, via a Garuda Indonesia flight, to Yogyakarta on the same day, he said.

Acting on the tip-off, Yogyakarta immigration officials arrested the Frenchman.

"His arrest was a little bit difficult as someone came up to us and wanted to settle Vu's case outside the system in a peaceful way," Zaiman said.

The offer was firmly rejected by the local immigration officials who sent Vu on to Jakarta under tight security control.

According to Immigration Office spokesman Mursanudin, Ghani Vu was first deported on Aug. 31 from Soekarno-Hatta for violating the immigration laws after being arrested at Hotel Shangri-La.

Instead of working as a business development expert at PT Quatrisindo Diatech as his papers said he was, Vu managed an art gallery at the hotel, Mursanudin said. (bsr)