Immigration deported 450 aliens in last year
Immigration deported 450 aliens in last year
JAKARTA (JP): The immigration authorities deported 450 foreigners from Indonesia last year, largely because they had overstayed their permits.
In 1993, Indonesia deported 488 foreigners.
Director General of Immigration Roni Sikap Sinuraya announced that Malaysians topped the list of people deported in 1994 with 73, Australians came second with 66 and Taiwan third with 62.
Roni said the authorities are currently holding 14 Sri Lankans who were recently caught in violation of their visas. They are to be deported soon.
During their investigation of the Sri Lankans, the immigration office discovered that an official from the Ministry of Education and Culture had been providing them with forged documents stating that they were students of the University of Indonesia.
Most of the people deported were caught during the recent sweep against illegal aliens conducted by the Directorate General of Immigration over the New Year holiday on Dec. 31 and Jan. 1.
Roni said the operation code named Waspada (Alert) rounded up 160 people, including 59 Malaysians, 24 Japanese and 23 Singaporeans.
Among those detained and deported were entertainers hired by Indonesian clubs for the New Year celebrations. Many of them were in the country without working permits.
Despite the deportation of people from the neighboring country, it was hardly tit for tat between Indonesia and Malaysia.
Roni said a total of 13,045 Indonesians were deported from the neighboring country in 1994 because they were in violation of the Malaysian immigration regulations.
One deportation case that drew huge publicity last year was that of Malaysian-born TV star Nand Kumar, who was a hit in the local television serial Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel, the School Boy).
His popularity eventually drew the attention of the immigration authorities. In November he was given the marching order because it turned out that his visa only allowed him to work as a disc jockey.
Roni said the authorities could not accept Nand's plead of ignorance of Indonesian immigration regulations.
All foreigners should know the Indonesian immigration regulations before coming into the country, he said.
Pleads of ignorance have been widely used as a pretext by many people caught in violation of the immigration laws, he noted.
"I find it hard to believe that a foreigner has difficulties in comprehending the regulations because they are written in English and not Indonesian," he added. (imn)