Recently, the Balinese community has been shocked by the misbehavior and illegal work of some foreigners, and these incidents have gone viral on social media. Responding to this, the Governor of Bali, I Wayan Koster, will enact new regulations. What are they?
Wayan Koster claims that his team is taking action against foreigners or tourists who behave badly, such as working illegally in Bali, not because it has gone viral on social media.
“I want to make a note, I act not because it has gone viral, sorry. There is no influence from viral things, we have been doing this since Covid-19,” Koster said during a press conference at the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights (Kemenkumham) Bali on Sunday (12/3).
However, according to him, cracking down on tourists who violate the law in Bali cannot be rushed and must have strong evidence and be new before being taken action upon.
“But, to open this up, we can’t rush it. I make sure of this and we have been dealing with it for months. But our way of working, we cannot open it on social media. Because there are things we have to protect, and we have already ensured that everything is done with strong evidence of violations before we take action. This is the first action, and the next will follow,” he said.
He reaffirmed that they were taking action not because it has gone viral, but because it was an ongoing program being carried out with other agencies to crack down on tourists who break the law in Bali.
“Not because it has gone viral, but because this is indeed a program that we are running together with the Regional Government, the Chief of Police, and the Central Government, in this case, Mr. Kanwil Kemenkumham,” he explained.
Koster said he was proposing to the Central Government to revoke the visa on arrival (VoA) for Russian and Ukrainian citizens who want to visit Bali.
“I have written to the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, with a copy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to revoke the visa on arrival for Russian and Ukrainian citizens who want to come to Bali,” he said.
He said the policy was important because of the growing number of reports about citizens from the two countries violating laws in Bali, using the guise of a tourist visit.
In addition, the current conflict in the country makes citizens of the two countries want to seek comfort in Bali.
“Because the two countries are at war, they are uncomfortable in their own country. They come to Bali en masse, including those who do not travel to seek comfort, including to work,” he said.
According to him, the revocation of visa on arrival for foreigners may not only apply to citizens of the two countries.
“Kemenkumham will discuss with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs whether these two countries are the only ones subject to new policies or some countries, as there are now 86 countries that are given visa on arrival,” Koster said.
In recent months, cases of foreigners and foreign tourists who have had problems have become public attention.
Especially those who violate the laws in Indonesia, for example, riding motorcycles without complete documents and helmets, reckless driving, making fake IDs, and misusing residence and work permits illegally.
Head of the Immigration Division of the Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights Bali, Barron Ichsan, said that from January to the second of March 2023, 22 foreigners in Bali were processed by immigration for violating immigration administrative rules.
Of that number, Barron said that Russian foreigners were the largest violators, with five people.
Another policy to be issued is a ban on foreign tourists renting motorbikes. Koster said the ban would be enacted in this year as Bali is in the cleaning up time.
