Immigration office helps Australia keep out illegals

JAKARTA (JP): The Immigration Directorate General announced on Thursday that the office had so far prevented 291 foreigners from illegally entering Australia and had deported 114 of them.

"The foreigners were netted between July 1999 and February 2000 at the country's immigration posts. They were trying to travel to Australia without proper immigration documents," director for immigration supervision and operations, Zaiman Nurmatias, said in a written statement.

They included six Afghans, 39 Iranians, 223 Iraqis, three Maltese, one Moroccan, 15 Pakistanis, three Saudi Arabians and one Sri Lankan.

"They were captured in Bagan Siapi Api in Riau; Cilacap in Central Java; in Jimbaran waters off Bali; and on Rote island in East Nusa Tenggara," Zaiman said.

He said immigration would soon deport 89 out of the 291 illegal foreigners who had been arrested for similar violations.

"We will soon deport the 89 foreigners to their countries of origin," he said, adding that 88 others had managed to escape from immigration's custody.

He said Australia was an attractive place to make a living, especially since Sydney was hosting this year's Olympiad.

Immigration had discovered, he said, that the foreigners had entered Indonesia from Jordan through Malaysia. Most of them had return airplane tickets.

"They also used faked visas which were organized by an international mafia," Zaiman said.

The implementation of the sticker visa system had forced them to illegally enter Indonesia, he said.

Zaiman admitted the Immigration Directorate General had encountered difficulties deporting the foreigners, while citing that there were 61 Iranians and Iraqis in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, waiting to be deported.

"We have requested help from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to deport them," he said.

"The IOM has agreed to cover travel documents, accommodation and transportation expenses."

"They are now detained at the Kupang Immigration Office under the supervision of local immigration and police officers," he said.

Meanwhile, Central Jakarta Immigration officials nabbed 22 foreigners from India, Nigeria and Somalia for allegedly breaching Indonesian immigration laws during a half-day operation on Friday.

Dirman Sukardi, head of the Central Jakarta Immigration Office's monitoring and operational division, said they were netted in a series of raids at four hotels -- Alamanda, Tanah Abang Indah, Fokus and Petamburan I.

The raid was held by officials in an operation locally known as Sipora, involving officials from the city administration, the Central Jakarta District Court, Central Jakarta Police and the Central Jakarta Immigration Office.

"The illegal immigrants had entered Indonesia with counterfeited papers, which can easily be obtained in Bangkok," Dirman said.

Head of the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Law and Legislation Iman Santoso, who was invited to observe the operation, said the operation was held to nab notorious illegal immigrants.

"We want to prevent cases where tourists extend their tourism visas, while they are here for business activities," he said.

He said the coordination between the city administration, the district court, the police and the immigration office was to ensure proper handling of problems in the field, citing possible cases of weapon and drug possession which would need police involvement. (06/nvn)