Immigration office helps Australia keep out illegals

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)