Eight expatriates arrested for immigration violations

JAKARTA (JP): Immigration officers have arrested eight Pakistanis and three Srilankans for immigration violations.

Zaiman Nurmatias, director of supervision and law enforcement at the Directorate General of Immigration, said yesterday the Pakistanis were arrested at a house on Jl. Berdikari, West Jakarta Tuesday.

The Srilankans were arrested at a house in nearby Palmerah the same day Zaiman said.

The eight Pakistanis are identified as Moh. Rafiq, Syed Ibrar Hussain, Chaudhry Sharil Ahmed, Muhamad Kamran, Arshad Pervez, Talib Hussain, Zanid Ahmed Mir and Khursid Anwar, while the Srilankans are Manickam Logasingham, Nagarajah Kopirahman and Mahalingasivan.

The immigration officers, accompanied by local residents, raided the house and found the three Pakistanis inside.

"We found many false passports and immigration documents. All the documents said they were issued by the Central Jakarta immigration office. We found one English passport with the original photo removed," Zaiman said.

The house had formerly been rented by 15 other Pakistanis. They were all arrested last year for forging documents.

"While the officers were checking the documents, five other Pakistanis entered the house. We arrested them immediately," Zaiman said.

Three Srilankans were arrested in the Palmerah house for not having passports. They claimed their passports were at the Swiss embassy awaiting visas for another country. "They said they had paid US$7,000 each for the service," Zaiman said. (sur)