On stay permits

I am referring to the letter regarding foreign investment in Indonesia by Frank Zieschank (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 11).

What the gentleman says here is only the tip of the iceberg. A friend of mine who is married to an Australian and arranging for stay permits for her kids is going through hell going from regional immigration office to the directorate general of immigration.

She faced moral and sexual harassment by one of the staff in the directorate general (and she is not the only one). Zieschank is asking for respect for foreigners who want to live and work in Indonesia, but these government entities do not even respect their own citizens.

May I suggest to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono that he fire all the people involved in these departments and replace them with ones who have a modern and humanitarian way of thinking, just like yourself. These people are not only inhumane but also brutally extort money from Indonesian citizens and the foreigners they "serve".

MELINDA TAN Jakarta