RI limits entry of Chinese women

JAKARTA: The government said it has decided to limit the entry of Chinese women under 30 years old into Indonesia in a bid to help curb the involvement of foreign citizens in prostitution here.

"Out of 1,901 foreign citizens deported from Indonesia, most are women under 30 from China. During the raids, these young women were found to have been working as sex workers here," Minister of Justice and Human Rights Hamid Awaluddin told members of House of Representatives Commission III on legal affairs during a hearing on Wednesday. He did not say when the raids were conducted.

Hamid said that the Directorate General of Immigration would tighten the requirements for visa applications submitted by Chinese women under 30. He added that the tougher visa requirements would be also applied for men from Nigeria, who would be required to have clearance from their government stating that they had no drug record, as many of them have been involved in the drug trade here. -- JP