Govt sees increase in illegal immigrants a serious problem
Govt sees increase in illegal immigrants a serious problem
JAKARTA (JP): The government views the rising influx of
illegal immigrants as a serious problem, especially in connection
with widespread fear of organized terrorism, an official said on
Tuesday.
Muhammad Indra, the director of Immigration Supervision and
Control at the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, said the
government's strong stance was based on the possibility of a much
larger influx of illegal immigrants, especially due to friction
between the United States and Afghanistan.
Indra made his remarks after a closed meeting on Tuesday of
the interdepartmental coordinating team on the supervision of
foreigners.
The meeting, hosted by the Directorate General of Immigration,
was attended by officials from the immigration office, the
National Police, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Attorney General's Office, the Indonesian
Navy and the National Intelligence Body.
Indra said that although the issue of a possible war between
the United States and Afghanistan was not raised at the meeting,
members discussed the likelihood of a large number of Afghans
fleeing their country.
"Most Afghans will likely run to other countries, mainly
Australia, via our country. There may already be thousands of
them in Malaysia," he said.
"We cannot ignore the possibility that these Afghans are
members of militia forces in their country or trained personnel
of terrorist groups.
"If we fail to handle the illegal immigrant issue properly and
with comprehensive measures, the effect may be fatal to Indonesia
since we could be considered a safe transit zone for terrorist
groups," he said after the meeting.
The government has issued a policy to limit the issuance of
entry permits for citizens of certain countries, including those
from Afghanistan, Palestine, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.
People from these countries can only obtain an entry visa for
Indonesia after receiving approval from the immigration office
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will screen their
applications and sponsors for their stay in the country.
Indra underlined the importance of proper quarantine
facilities which would restrict the movement of illegal
immigrants to discourage others from choosing Indonesia as a
transitory destination.
"Many illegal immigrants have fled detention centers or guest
houses where they were sheltered. We cannot detain them as
illegal immigrants since they are claiming refuge, therefore
there is no tight security. This situation should be changed in
the future where they should be placed in quarantine centers
pending deportation.
"Indonesia doesn't want to be a processing center for illegal
immigrants intending to enter another country. We think
neighboring countries who are concerned with the influx of
immigrants could help us establish quarantine facilities," Indra
argued.
He explained that illegal immigrants enter a temporary
destination legally with valid travel documents. However, they
throw away their passports and other forms of identification as
soon as they reach a transitory country or before they are caught
by law enforcers while trying to reach their destination country.
"To make it worse, it's difficult to send them back because
the embassies of the countries they claim to be from reject
them," he added.
As of this month, there are 1,663 illegal immigrants being
sheltered in many places around the country. Out of the total,
514 are Afghans, 355 Iraqis, 57 Iranians, 20 Pakistanis, 11
Palestinians and two are Vietnamese. (bby)