TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia's Head of the Special Class 1 Immigration Information and Communication Section at the Ngurah Rai Bali Immigration Checkpoint, Nyoman Asta, said that 10 foreign nationals (WNA) from China were arrested due to incompatibility of residence permits.

"Alleged misuse of residence permit," Nyoman Asta said via telephone, Sunday, July 14, 2024.

He did not explain further the violation of the residence permit in question, only explaining that the residence permit application submitted was not appropriate.

He also denied that the arrest was related to an online scam or overstaying. He said that the residence permits of the 10 Chinese foreigners were still valid. Previously, news circulated in several media that the arrest was also related to online scam violations.

Currently the investigation process is still being carried out, if two strong pieces of evidence of violations are found, it will proceed to the realm of pro justitia, meaning they will be processed through legal channels. However, if the evidence is weak, they will only be charged with an admissions violation and will be deported.

The 10 foreigners have now been detained in the Ngurah Rai immigration detention room and the Denpasar immigration detention center. Nyoman explained that their arrest began with reports from residents.

The report stated that there was a villa in the South Kuta area which was inhabited by Chinese citizens in large numbers. After collecting materials and information regarding their activities, the immigration team then visited the villa on Thursday, July 11, 2024. Immigration also confiscated their belongings, in the form of laptops and various gadgets.

Violations of residence permits by foreigners often occur, for various reasons. Starting from overstaying their residence permits and visa violations. Quoting from Antara, during the 2023 period there were 340 foreigners who were deported by the Bali Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights. This figure is higher than the previous year, 188 people.

JIHAN RISTIYANTI

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