Another new article in the Jakarta Post today....
http://m.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/1 … tions.html
The number of tourists who misuse their visas having entered Bali has increased by almost 50 percent this year.
Ngurah Rai airport immigration official Mohamad Soleh said his office had deported 114 foreigners as of November this year, compared to 78 in 2013.
“Most were using a tourist visa to work in Bali,” he said recently.
In addition, several foreigners have been deported for committing crimes in Bali. “Foreigners who have committed a crime and served their prison sentence are deported immediately on their release,” Soleh added.
He said the immigration office had actively deployed officials to investigate foreign workers in the province who were allegedly violating their tourist visas. They were focusing on Badung regency at this time, he said.
Badung regency is home to the most vibrant tourist areas and entertainment on the island, and incorporates well-known places like Kuta, Seminyak, Jimbaran and Nusa Dua. Ngurah Rai International Airport is also located in the regency. Tourism contributes more than 90 percent to the regency's income. Teamed with Denpasar, Badung generates almost half of the island's income, which has enabled it to become the richest regency, able to subsidize other less-fortunate regencies in Bali.
Data from the Tourism Ministry says that Badung accounts for around 37 percent of the nation's tourism income.
Soleh said at least 70 percent of foreigners who violated their visas in Bali were Australian. Other visa violators were from the UK, France, Singapore, China, Norway, the US, New Zealand, Venezuela, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Ukraine and Ecuador.
The chairperson of the Bali Tourism Workers Association, Putu Satyawira Marhaendra, said tight supervision of foreigners working in Bali was of the utmost importance.
“If immigration officers want to enforce the law, they just have to go to places in Kuta, Seminyak, Kerobokan and around other tourist areas. It is easy to differentiate foreign tourists from [illegal] foreign employees,” he added on Friday.
Satyawira said the presence of illegal foreign workers could harm the chances of locals to thrive in their homeland. “Especially as we are about to face the ASEAN Economic Community. This is a big challenge for us,” Satyawira said.
Recently, the immigration office deported four foreigners who were working in Essensual Salon on Jl. Oberoi, Seminyak.
They were Britons Steven Thomas Gibbs, 25, Nancy May Evans, 23, Nicholas William Thomas Jones, 22, and American Marija Naloni Bozlee, 17. They had violated Article 122 of the Immigration Law by carrying out activities not in accordance with the granted visa.
“They had different roles in the salon. One was a cashier, and the others were hairdressers,” Soleh said.
Earlier in March, the Ngurah Rai immigration office also deported two Australians for visa violations. Both were accused of working as journalists in Bali without the proper visa.
Daniel William Sutton, a Channel 10 reporter, and Nathan Mark Richter, a freelance photographer, were approached by immigration officials while covering a story about Schapelle Corby, a convicted Australian drug smuggler whose parole has drawn domestic controversy and international media attention.
114 foreigners deported from Bali in 2014
Hey Tom!
Many thanks for posting this...one reason being that it's music to my ears, the other reason is that it may hopefully serve as fair warning that immigration and the police are very much committed to safeguarding jobs for locals and those expats who operate within the law.
Two thumbs up, and "word on the street" is that Gianyar is next...the regency of Ubud.
Ubudian wrote:Hey Tom!
Many thanks for posting this...one reason being that it's music to my ears, the other reason is that it may hopefully serve as fair warning that immigration and the police are very much committed to safeguarding jobs for locals and those expats who operate within the law.
Two thumbs up, and "word on the street" is that Gianyar is next...the regency of Ubud.
You are welcome Roy,
Indeed it's good to know that the authorities are getting more and more serious about it. Hopefully same they will do also in other parts of Indonesia not only to safeguarding jobs for locals, it's also very much disturbing if they work and earn money here without following the rules.
Like it is mentioned in the article, one working as a cashier and one as hairdresser.....two jobs which can be done by locals, what to say ?
What isn't being openly or frequently talked about, much like the proverbial elephant in the room, is the concerns here in Bali of what the new ASEAN agreement will mean in particular for Bali. In a nut shell, that agreement, which goes into effect next year, will allow for a much greater free flow of workers from other ASEAN member nations to come to Indonesia, (and visa versa) for jobs. It is well understood that Bali will be a stronger magnet for incoming workers as opposed to Balinese heading out to other ASEAN member countries.
I know that many Balinese have concerns about this, and the pressure on them to protect jobs for their own will only be mounting.
Unfortunately for non ASEAN foreigners, the prospect for legal employment in Bali is only going to get more difficult in a very short period of time.
Another big problem, and also not often discussed, is that the current labor laws regarding foreigners almost entirely exclude the employer from any culpability. The onus for compliance to these laws is largely the responsibility of the worker, and not the company employing them. One reason for that, as explained to me, is the fear that if the law was as tough on the employers (who are by and large the sources of foreign investment) then Indonesia could be regarded as too difficult and too “regulatory” to be attractive to foreign investors.
Without a doubt, some of these foreigners who get caught illegally working here are shocked to learn that while their employer told them that all their paper work (visas and work permits) were in order, they in fact, were not. Somehow it doesn't seem entirely fair or balanced that while an illegal worker can be looking at up to 5 years in jail, a fine of up to US $50,000.00 and mandatory deportation, their employer doesn't face anywhere near those sort of grave consequences for hiring illegal workers.
Popular places such as the tourist resorts of Bali are very likely to get flooded with ASEAN citizens, all looking for the dream, many not finding it.
The same may well apply to the Thai resorts.
People from the poorest countries will attempt to move over in a quest for a better life.
Dreams are likely to turn in nightmares for more than a few.
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