Haryanti Puspa Sari, Bagus Santosa, Jakarta – Two British nationals, Benjamin James Lovell and Benjamin Thomas Sloan, were deported from Indonesia on Wednesday September 5 for violating immigration rules.
Central Jakarta Non-TPI (non-immigration checkpoint) Class I Immigration Office head Ronald Arman Abdullah explained that the two violated Article 75 of Law Number 6/2011 on Immigration by participating in an online motorcycle taxi demonstration in Jakarta on August 29.
"They were observed giving a speech in the middle of a motorcycle taxi driver and online courier drivers’ demonstration near the Horse Statue at Monas [the National Monument] in Central Jakarta on Thursday August 29", said Abdullah in a written statement on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim added that demonstrations are a realm prohibited to foreigners. According to their examination, Lovell and Sloan came to Indonesia on a tourist visa, but participated in a demonstration, which violates the rules.
"Basically they are guests in Indonesia, their visas are for a vacation, but they instead took part in giving speeches. This is clear, there was a violation of immigration rules", he said.
As a follow-up, Karim said, the two foreigners were deported and banned from re-entering Indonesia. They were detained for six days before being repatriated to the UK through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Wednesday September 4 at their own expense.
Karim also appealed to foreign nationals to always obey the rules and respect local customs and culture in order to create a conducive environment.
He praised the quick actions of the Central Jakarta Immigration Office (Kanim) in handling the potential disturbance by the foreigners (WNA) and emphasised that violations by foreigners would be dealt with firmly.
"I appreciate the performance of the Central Jakarta Kanim because it acted responsively to the potential foreign disturbance that arose. In order to provide a deterrent effect and maintain the reputation of the Indonesian government, immigration officials throughout Indonesia, in conducting supervision, both in urban as well as border area, where there are WNA violating rules, we will take action", he said.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Ikut Orasi di Demo Ojek Online di Jakarta, Dua Warga Inggris Dideportasi".]
