Raids, operations... what else?

Poor coordination among government institutions has become commonplace in this country. The most candid case is the monitoring of foreigners working in the capital city of Jakarta, home to 36,000 foreigners and their families.

According to government regulations, three institutions dealing with the monitoring of foreigners; the police, immigration office and population and civil registration office are in charge of monitoring foreigners.

Unfortunately, the three institutions have obviously been busy with their own business while "monitoring". It seems that they work without clear cooperation, resulting in the situation that many foreigners enter the country legally but are later found to be working illegally.

Many foreign women work in karaoke halls illegally, many foreign sex workers have been arrested and deported. While many others have been arrested for drug trafficking.

These are all vivid illustrations of how the institutions in charge of monitoring foreigners have worked without proper coordination.

Early this week, many foreigners living and working in Jakarta were shocked when Jakarta administration officials came to their residences with registration forms to be filled out.

While the foreigners were puzzled by the move, the Jakarta head of Population and City Registration Agency, Sylviana Murni, said that the move was part of the implementation of the newly enacted Bylaw No. 4/2004 on population and civil registration.

Under the new bylaw, all foreigners are required to register themselves with the agency.

A staff member of the agency said that the main reason for the raids was many foreigners were working illegally in karaoke clubs and discotheques.

Then the problem is clear: There is something wrong with the monitoring systems involving the existing three institutions. Officials in charge of work permits for foreign nationals should explain how the violation is able to take place so often. Bribery could be behind the fiasco.

Given that many foreigners have been found to be working illegally, why haven't the institutions sat together and talked, instead of creating new bureaucratic procedures?

Another question is why the administration has yet to inform the public of the issuance of the new Bylaw which was signed in June this year? It is no doubt that our bureaucrats do prefer making things more complicated, not simpler.

It seems like another folly to perpetuate extortion.

Then we need adequate and honest information on the necessity of the additional procedures imposed on foreigners given that various other procedures are already imposed on foreigners residing in the country. If the intention is to monitor and keep a record of foreign nationals in the country, aren't regular census and immigration and the police registration records sufficient?

The government, including the Jakarta administration, should be well aware that the improper handling of foreigners residing in or entering the country could hamper the tourism industry.

According to the Jakarta Population and Civil Registration Agency "raids" on foreign nationals code-named operasi yustisi will take place soon. In the past the target of operasi yustisi was local migrant workers, who lived in Jakarta without any proper documents or ID cards.

The operation will be conducted at hotels, apartments and boarding houses, and those found violating the regulations are subject to three months in prison or a Rp 5 million (around US$550) fine.

The question now is why the agency likes using militaristic jargon in such a matter. Terms like sweeping, raids and operations indicate that the authorities carry the vestiges of the militaristic style of the Soeharto era, when people were treated with suspicion, which is no longer popular nowadays.

In short, the move, whatever the reasons behind it, indicates that the public service is really not people-friendly. And militaristic jargon is merely used to cover up the bureaucracy's shortcomings in upholding the law.