Immigration in Bali is calling on traditional Balinese security guards, pecalang, to help them “supervise foreigners” on the island.
Head of Ngurah Rai Special Class I Immigration, Ari Budijanto said immigration will be working closely with traditional village leadership as well, to participate and play an active role in keeping foreigners under tabs.
To optimize the monitoring of foreigners by desa adat, traditional villages, Budijanto conducted a socialization event in Jimbaran, which was something akin to a town hall meeting.
“This socialization was expected to increase the understanding of the community, especially pecalang and desa adat, about immigration tasks, so they can participate and play an active role in the supervision of foreigners,” Budijanto said, as quoted by state news agency, Antara Bali.
Though Antara Bali’s coverage does not really go into what exactly immigration along with pecalang and desa adat will be looking for, as they “supervise foreigners,” it seems their focus will likely be visa violations.
From January to May 2017, Ngurah Rai Immigration has deported 85 foreigners for a variety of offenses, including visa abuses, like overstaying tourist visas.
Bali, with a local population of just 4.2 million (based on a 2014 census), receives a massive amount of foreign tourists each year. We saw record-breaking numbers in 2016 with the arrival of 4,904,175 foreign tourists—a 22.55 percent increase from 2015.
Given its extremely protectionist policies, immigration comes down hard in Indonesia against foreigners working illegally on tourist visas. Take this Russian trio found illegally busking at a traditional market in Mengwi, for instance.
Immigration this year has also increased its vigilance in screening for asylum seekers and sex offenders trying to enter Indonesia—a task which should be made slightly easier for the latter category now that Australia has pulled passports for convicted sex offenders.
