Foreigners held for visa violations

BLITAR, East Java: The Blitar immigration office has arrested four foreigners -- two Pakistani and two Bangladeshi nationals -- for alleged visa violations, an official said on Friday.

Ade E. Dahlan, spokesman for the director general of immigration at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said the four were being detained in Blitar.

The foreigners had been living in Indonesia since 1996, employed as construction workers, were married to local women and had children.

The detainees are: Malik Nafee Ahmed, 30, and Asghar Mukhar, 32, of Pakistan and Nazrul Islam, 33, and Muhammad Samsudin, 32, of Bangladesh, Ade said in a press release made available to The Jakarta Post.

"They came to Indonesia on tourist visas and their permits have already expired. They also failed to provide other documents during the investigations," he said.

The four violated Article 4 of the Immigration Law, he added.

He said his office was coordinating with the embassies of Pakistan and Bangladesh to arrange their deportation. -- JP