TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Office recorded that it had blocked 224 foreign nationals from entering Indonesia via Soekarno-Hatta Airport between January and March 2023.

Director General of the Immigration Office, Silmy Karim, said that the large number of foreigners who were rejected and deported showed that surveillance and operations against problematic foreigners are still running well and sustainably.

“Because we have the policy to ensure that foreigners who enter Indonesia are quality ones,” Silmy said at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tuesday, March 27.

Silmy encouraged the Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Office and other immigration offices in Indonesia to keep conducting supervision of problematic foreigners. Moreover, Soekarno-Hatta Airport is the main crossing, apart from Bali's Ngurah Rai Airport.

“Perform surveillance and law enforcement against foreigners with problems in a firm, measurable, and polite manner,” Silmy remarked.

The Immigration Office is always on standby 24 hours in order to maintain the country’s domestic security and stability from foreigners. However, he said, Immigration could not carry out its own monitoring function without cooperating with other parties.

Cross-sectoral cooperation and community participation are necessary to create comprehensive and effective supervision of foreigners.

Muhammad Tito Andrianto, the Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Airport Immigration Office, outlined that among hundreds of foreigners who were refused entry because of not having enough living expenses in Indonesia (20 people), not having clear aims and objectives (78 people), their passport validity period is less than 6 months (22 people), not meeting the regulation of Permenkumham No. 34 of 2021 (65 people), and inadmissible passengers from abroad (19 people).

“Apart from that, there are also foreign nationals who do not have valid travel documents, use fake visas, are on the banned list, and are on Interpol’s red notice list,” Tito said.

JONIANSYAH

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