Supervision on expats

I read with dismay the front page story on Thursday, Feb. 26, Special team set up to supervise expats.

Zaiman Nurmatias said: "We have no choice but to tighten supervision and control on expatriates."

We expatriates apparently commit the heinous crime of overstaying our visas and violating our work permits. Perhaps we are overstaying our welcome?

Evidently, since 1993, expatriates have committed an average of 1,000 work permit violations per year. Zaiman further said: "The bottom line is that now we are becoming stricter with comings and goings in this country."

How much stricter can it get? Right now, expatriates have to leave Indonesia every year to renew their KITAS CARDS. We pay return airline tickets to, and hotel accommodation in, the nearest foreign county (usually Singapore). We now pay Rp 1 million each in fiscal tax to leave, and we are finger printed on our return. (Believe me, my fingerprints haven't changed since last year).

We are subjected to rude (and sometimes corrupt) officials as we leave the country. My husband is now beginning to think that, next time, maybe we'll leave and not come back, thereby putting eight Indonesians (his employees and our household staff) out of work.

I am getting rather concerned at the "expat bashing" that now seems to be a weekly feature of the newspaper. I am particularly concerned because I wonder how much of these news stories the average "man on the street" will understand. Will he realize that the expatriates bring economic benefits to the country (just think of all that fiscal tax), or only that 1,000 of us per year "break the laws here"?

CAROLYN E.

Jakarta