Midnight operation on illegal residents slammed
Midnight operation on illegal residents slammed
JAKARTA (JP): Crackdowns on illegal residents should be carried out in line with regulations and ethical aspects, an official says.
"I think the crackdowns should not be done at midnight because it is not polite," said the city secretary assistant for government affairs, Maskup Ustianto.
He added that officials should conduct the operation properly and civilly and should not treat those netted as criminals.
Maskup said the mayoralty offices should involve heads of neighborhood units or community units in crackdowns on people who are not holders of Jakarta identification documents.
"According to the regulation, the chiefs of neighborhood and community units should report every illegal resident in their areas to the subdistrict offices," Maskup said.
Maskup also urged the chiefs of community and neighborhood units to regularly report any illegal residents to the subdistrict offices.
The public recently protested a midnight crackdown on illegal migrants conducted by the South Jakarta mayoralty.
The raid was carried out in Kuningan Timur and Karet Kuningan subdistricts. Out of 516 people netted, 103 possessed identification cards and were released. Two hundred and eighty- three people were tried for violations, such as not having identification cards, littering, and peddling on the street.
Twenty female students and company employees strongly protested against members of the crackdown team who banged on the doors of their boarding houses on Jl. Genteng Ijo, Kuningan, rudely asking for their identity cards at midnight.
Some officials entered the houses without permission and forced the students out in the street.
A lawyer said there are more civilized ways in conducting such operations.
"I support the city administration's anti-urbanization policy, but I just cannot understand why the officials should resort to such rudeness by banging on the house doors at midnight," Djohan Djauhary, the secretary of the Indonesian Bar Association said.
The head of the city public order office, Kusaeni Budiantoro, has also criticized the midnight operation and warned officials not to do it again.(yns/bas)