TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-The Directorate General for Immigration at the Law and Human Rights Ministry is ready to deport Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio from Indonesia, if the Oscar winner is proven to have violated his visa terms.
The DG said that the Titanic actor had exercised a black campaign against palm oil plantations in Aceh during his visit to the Mount Leuser National Park on Sunday last week.
"If there are statements that discredit the government and the interests of Indonesia, he could be deported," Director General of Immigration Ronny F Sompie said in Jakarta, Thursday, March 31, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
According to Ronny, the DG has the authority to deport foreigners that violate their visa terms as stipulated in Law No. 6/2011 on Immigration.
DiCaprio is visiting Indonesia on a tourist visa. If he is proven to be doing other things that are "creating public disturbances and harming the state's interest, the Immigration is ready to deport him," Ronny asserted, saying that the DG will continue to monitor the actor's activities in Indonesia.
Ronny said that he received information that DiCaprio and his entourage arrived on a private jet at the Kualanamu Airport from Japan on Saturday evening, March 26. On the same day around 10.00 am, the group took a helicopter ride to Mount Leuser National Park.
"I heard that he is in Jakarta now," he said.
DiCaprio recorded his journey to Aceh and uploaded some photos to his instagram account, expressing his concerns over a number of species, particularly the Sumatran elephants, whose habitats are endangered.
The Oscar-winning actor said that the "expansion of Palm Oil plantations is fragmenting the forest and cutting off key elephant migratory corridors, making it more difficult for elephant families to find adequate sources of food and water."
An oil palm businessman from Aceh, Asmar Arsyad, responded to DiCaprio's post, saying that the actor is barking at the wrong tree. "He should be campaigning for environmental conservation in the Amazon jungle that is being depleted by soy oil plantations," said Asmar.
Firman Subagyo, House of Representatives' (DPR) Energy Commission, chimed in. He said that the purpose of DiCaprio's visit to Indonesia is more than just about environmental conservation.
"His goal is clear. He will definitely take a shot at oil palm plantations, and wrap it with environmental issues," he said, believing that DiCaprio's visit is being facilitated by NGP's with "environmental masks" that have been scrutinizing the Indonesian sovereignty.
"I'm urging the BIN chief and the Police chief to take firm action against those groups. I'm also asking the Immigration to deport Leonardo if he is proven to be black-campaigning out oil palm industry," said the Golkar Party politician.
