The Immigration Office has asked locals to monitor the movements of foreigners staying in villas, hotels, and homestays in Bali during the holidays.
The Head of the Denpasar Immigration Office, Ridha Sah Putra, has announced that they have started monitoring the movement of foreign nationals entering Bali, with a significant influx expected ahead of Christmas and New Year 2024/2025.
Putra highlighted that immigration officers have been deployed to patrol and monitor popular destinations frequented by foreigners visiting Bali. “We have divided teams to monitor five districts and Denpasar City. One team is monitoring two work areas during the Christmas-New Year holiday,” explained Putra to the press on Thursday, the 12th of December.
“We are [also] monitoring Ubud because it is one of the areas with a high concentration of foreigners.”
Putra also urged the public to monitor the activities of foreigners staying in villas, hotels, and homestays in Bali to report suspicious behaviour. To support this, the Immigration Office has established a unit called the Village for the Socialisation of Foreign Nationals and Prospective Indonesian Migrant Workers (Desa Binaan Sosialisasi Warga Negara Asing dan Calon Pekerja Migran Indonesia).
Residents who receive information or rent out accommodations can report it to the village head, who will then forward the details to the Denpasar Immigration Office. Immigration officers will review reported locations and conduct data collection as a preventive measure.
“So later we will check if there is a report through the village head. We will check the villas occupied by the foreigners, their residence permits, and their destination in Bali. Don’t let foreigners commit acts that violate regulations and laws,” continued Putra.
Meanwhile, the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office in Badung Regency, Bali, has introduced an immigration cyber unit to monitor foreign nationals who may potentially violate immigration laws.
“Supervision of foreigners must be carried out proactively,” the Head of the Ngurah Rai Immigration Office, Suhendra, told the press on Thursday.
The primary role of the cyber unit is to search for, analyse, and gather information related to the activities of foreigners through electronic and social media. This initiative aligns with the increasing importance of adapting to technological advancements.
“Immigration officers must be able to detect early potential violations committed by foreigners through supervision on social media and news media,” Suhendra concluded.