This commitment was reaffirmed after the Directorate of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement arrested 12 Vietnamese women suspected to be working as sex workers in North Jakarta on Thursday.
"The Directorate General of Immigration will increase supervision against foreigners to prevent the same violations from recurring," Director of Immigration Supervision and Enforcement at the ministry Yuldi Yusman said at a press conference here on Friday.
The directorate often receives reports from the public about problematic foreign nationals, he informed.
He then stressed that his party will not hesitate to take action against violations.
He added that the supervision of foreign nationals requires extra effort.
As an example, he pointed out that the 12 Vietnamese nationals initially secured visa-free entry and visit visa facilities for travel, but then started working in Indonesia.
"We had no idea they arrived here to work as sex workers. Thus, actually, it is quite hard for us to monitor because they abuse (the permit) when they already arrive here," he informed.
He further said that if the authority gets too strict, it is feared that the number of foreign tourist arrivals will decline.
However, Yusman assured that the Directorate General of Immigration will step up supervision, including starting monitoring when foreign nationals apply for visas to visit Indonesia.
The 12 Vietnamese nationals were found to have abused their stay permit and Article 122 of Law Number 6 of 2011 concerning Immigration. Therefore, they will be deported and banned from entering Indonesia.
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Translator: Fath Putra, Raka Adji
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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