Raids, operations... what else?

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.