The Deputy Mayor of Yogyakarta City, Wawan Harmawan, has instructed his staff to tighten supervision of foreign workers within the city.
This effort comes in response to the increasing number of cases involving the misuse of tourist visas for work purposes, which have been reported in several regions across Indonesia.
Harmawan noted that the number of foreign tourist visits to Yogyakarta, which reaches hundreds of thousands each year, presents potential loopholes for the misuse of visitor visas. As such, he believes it is necessary to strengthen supervision of foreign arrivals. He also cited a common pattern in which foreign tourists arrive from other areas (such as Bali) as agencies, then stay in tourist hubs within Yogyakarta (such as Sosrowijayan or Prawirotaman) while engaging in activities beyond what their visa permits.
“Don’t let [this] happen like in other provinces: people come as tourists, but [the tourist visa] is used for other things,” he said as quoted from the press on Tuesday, the 22nd of April.
Furthermore, Harmawan emphasised that all foreign workers are subject to existing regulations and, thus, must follow the established procedures. The regulations regarding this matter have been detailed in Yogyakarta City Regional Regulation No. 8 of 2024 concerning the implementation of employment. He also called on the Yogyakarta City Social, Manpower, and Transmigration Service to proactively carry out inspections and ensure that all foreign worker recruitment processes are conducted in accordance with the applicable regulations.
“Everything must be in accordance with the provisions. I ask that operations be carried out in Yogyakarta to handle all companies that are indicated to use foreign workers,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Yogyakarta City Social and Manpower Office, Maryustion Tonang, remarked that the number of foreign workers in Yogyakarta is relatively small at this moment, especially when compared to other districts within the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province, such as Sleman and Bantul.
“However, this [supervision] remains the obligation of the Yogyakarta City Government to its citizens – in relation to the use of [working visas for] foreign workers,” concluded Tonang.