Exclusive, Regarding The Hope Of Cleaning The Directorate Of Immigration, This Is Silmy Karim's Strategy

As a new official at the Directorate General of Immigration who was elected through an open position auction, Silmy Karim has a lot of hopes. Including the hope from the Minister of SOEs (BUMN) that he will clean up the agency he currently leads. With experience leading several state-owned companies, he has his own way and strategy for translating the request.

***

At the moment of Silmy Karim's inauguration as Director General of Immigration, Minister of Law and Human Rights (Menkumham) Yasonna H Laoly emphasized the matter of increasing the speed of service. Especially to potential foreign investors so they can be more comfortable investing. "Especially studying several countries that provide fast immigration services," he said after the inauguration in Jakarta, Wednesday, January 4.

Yasonna is different, BUMN Minister Erick Thohir is different. He hoped that his subordinates when he was the leader of Krakatau Steel would be able to clean up the Director General of Immigration. Even though he is no longer his subordinate now, he will still support the clean-up action as is done in the ranks of BUMN. "This is the Director General of Immigration who will be dismantling and cleaning up, what's the agenda, sir?" asked Erick at the time.

Responding to Erick Thohir's request at the time, Silmy explained three programs that were his priorities in his first 100 days as Director General of Immigration. Namely, regarding services, digitization, and golden visas. "So these three things are what we will probably try to do in these 100 days, with the support of the Minister of SOEs, we have already discussed and supported them, thank God, thank you, Mr. Minister. Maybe we can deliver faster," Silmy said at that time responding to Erick's expectations.

Two months later when VOI had the opportunity to conduct a special interview, Silmy Karim explained his strategy for cleaning up the Directorate General of Immigration by closing any blemishes or opportunities to commit dirty acts.

"I am more inclined to achieve the targets that have been set, for example optimizing the online system process. When the process is carried out online it will reduce interaction with officers, this will automatically reduce leakage to the maximum. We reduce or close the reproach to commit fraud. That way it will be clean by itself," he explained to Iqbal Irsyad, Edy Suherli, and Irfan Medianto from VOI who met him in his office, the Directorate General of Immigration office, HR. Rasunah Said Street, Kuningan Setiabudi, South Jakarta, recently. Here is the excerpt.

How did you imagine the Directorate General of Immigration when you were outside, now that you are inside, is there anything different?

My imagination before entering Immigration was that the performance of the apparatus was low, after I entered it was not like that. Officers at the Directorate General of Immigration can quickly carry out their duties. So far they have been able to keep up with the pace of work I want. Is it because of the good recruitment process? The problem is that there is an Immigration Academy here which has now turned into an Immigration Polytechnic, whose educational pattern adopts a military model. I tested the ranks at Immigration, but the results were above my expectations. That something needs to be changed is part of the process that must be done.

I convey my dream about Immigration in the future to all levels. The reactions varied, but they already understood the goals to be achieved. We try to optimize without changing the existing rules.

Prior to Immigration, you took care of several companies; Krakatau Steel, Pindad, Barata Indonesia, etc., what is the comparison between the company you manage and the Directorate General of Immigration?

I have indeed gone through various fields that are not the same, when I entered Immigration I caught problems and problems more quickly. Now in the stage of developing a medium and long-term strategy. But for the short term, there are also quick wins that I am targeting. One of them is simplifying the rules; there is no longer a need for a recommendation from the Ministry of Religion for filing special Umrah and Hajj passports. On the Director General of Immigration's birthday on January 23, we issued pre-investment visas, 60 tourist visit visas, and online VOA (visa on arrival) extensions. And also the operation of the auto-gate at Soekarno Hatta Airport to speed up the process of people entering Indonesia.

What are medium and long goals for?

One of them is the Perpres (Presidential Regulation) which must be adjusted. We will propose this so that the service process can be easier and faster. Services to the community must also be user-friendly. Because the Perpres are at a high level, need time to be realized.

After being elected as the Director General of Immigration, you launched 3 programs; service, digitization, and golden visa. Can you explain these three things?

Services should be simple and quick solutions. We must be friendly but dignified and assertive and effective. One solution is through online, anytime and anywhere can be served. But for migration to online this must be gradual. We have done the visa product online in less than three weeks, in my opinion, this is an achievement. The auto-gate system owned by Angkasa Pura, by coordinating with Immigration, will soon be able to function. The entry process for foreign passers-by at my target airport should not take more than 30 minutes even in the busiest conditions.

What else is immigration related to besides passports, visas, and crossing services to Indonesia?

There are four immigration functions; the first is visa, passport, and passer services. Second, border protection on land, sea, and air (airport). Third, legal action for violators. The four community welfare facilitators. Our priority is the easiest and most impactful for the public. One of them is weekend passport services such as at Soekarno Hatta Airport and malls. There is also an easy passport for ball pick-up passport services. In the security context, we encourage the Directorate of Intelligence to operate optimally, we support the budget. In law enforcement, we act on foreigners who break the law. We hope that the passers who enter Indonesia are not qualified, and instead become a burden.

For the facilitator What is an example of community welfare?

This is an example for investors who want to invest in Indonesia. There is something called a pre-investment visa, if you go through the processing procedure it takes a long time, but we will make a shortcut, by giving the visa first while the investment is running. So the management as it goes, we do a check, whether it is correct or not. Everything is done in parallel, all move for the same purpose. Like an orchestra.

What are the advantages of the golden visa for Indonesia?

The purpose of the golden visa is for economic benefits for Indonesia. That is to make it easy for foreigners to stay in Indonesia for a long time, up to 5 to 10 years. So there is no need to go back and forth to the Immigration office. With a golden visa, the holder can easily open a bank account and buy property. The contribution for us, we see from several countries, can pay a certain fee or investors invest here.

One of the hopes put forward by the Minister of BUMN, for Immigration is a clean-up program, what are your priorities?

If cleaning is expected, the question is whether it has not been cleaned all this time. I have to be careful choosing a program. When I enter a new place in a positive light, like a white sheet. The problem is that if you enter with suspicion, it will be difficult to run the organization.

It means?

I am more inclined to the targets that have been set so that they can be fulfilled, for example optimizing the online system process. When the process is carried out online it will reduce interaction with officers, this will automatically reduce leakage to the maximum. We reduce or close the reproach to commit fraud. With so clean it will manifest itself.

So that's the strategy to be executed?

If I entered with a negative perception and was suspicious, and there was already a charge that I wanted to take action from a negative perspective, it would not be effective. It's better if I think of everything as a white sheet and I start from a positive perspective. With fewer blemishes from doing things that have the potential to be dirty, it can automatically answer that this institution is clean. Without having to accuse or think an organization is dirty. So it's better for us to focus on the end result.

For foreigners to Indonesia, how many between tourism and business?

From the data we have, the numbers are balanced between tourism and business. There are also those with educational purposes but not many. We want those who come to be of good quality, not to add to the problems in Indonesia. We make it easy for foreigners to enter. After entering we tighten it up when someone wants a residence permit, but it's not complicated for those who do business and have good behavior. This kind of category is the green line. There is also a yellow line that needs to be studied further. And the most careful is the red line, absolutely not allowed to enter.

Silmy Karim's Story: The Selection Process for the Director General of Immigration is Painful

Who would have thought that the selection process to get the position as Director General of Immigration, said Silmy Karim, was not an easy thing, but very painful. He went through it steadfastly and also patiently until finally, he was able to beat other ASN and non-ASN candidates like himself.

What was the main motivation for him to register in the open auction for the Director General of Immigration from the non-ASN route? “I want to do for many people as a public official. Public officials who sit in government agencies such as Immigration," said the man who was born in Tegal, Central Java, on November 19, 1974.

His motivation is to provide the best service to the community through the agency he currently leads. "With this position, I have the authority to provide convenience, speed, and fluency. It has become an inseparable part when we want to give something to society," continued Silmy, who spent his childhood and youth in Jakarta.

He at least likes being a connoisseur of office, let alone abusing his authority for things that shouldn't be. "So my main motivation for participating in the competition for the position of the Directorate General of Immigration is to be able to provide benefits to the community," said Silmy, who after graduating from high school, studied at the Faculty of Economics, Trisakti University, Jakarta. After that, he continued his study of Economics at the Master's level at the University of Indonesia.

After a lot of work in the field of defense, Silmy did not expect to be involved in the field of immigration. He held a number of positions at the Ministry of Defense and the State Intelligence Agency. "The discourse was not from me, but after being assigned here I consider it a mandate and God's way to make me have added value for Immigration institutions and also the community," explained Silmy, who in the field of defense had studied at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Germany (2012), NATO School, Germany (2012), Harvard University, USA (2012) and Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) California, USA (2014).

Long Process

The process that Silmy Karim had to go through to finally be appointed Director General of Immigration was long and painful. He took part in the open selection of the Director General of Immigration through the Non-ASN route. "The process is not easy, even painful (painful)," admits the man who collects a number of paintings by this famous painter.

How come? “The problem is that I and other candidates have to prepare a paper, then present it. And the papers are not one, many. There is a simulation and you have to answer thousands of questions related to psychology, leadership, etc. All are tested on the candidates," he said, recalling the selection process.

Another painful thing is because the selection process is open and can be monitored by the public, there are attacks. “Another painful thing is because there are attacks from various directions. Either directly or indirectly to me. I have no choice but to face all of that,” he admitted without detailing the forms of attacks that arose during the selection process.

In the end, he was able to put aside other candidates and was determined through a Presidential Decree (Keppres) which was issued on December 26, 2022.

President's message

After Silmy Karim received a decree regarding his appointment as Director General of Immigration, he received a special message from the president to prioritize excellent service to the public. "President Jokowi sent me a direct message to provide fast and clean service. Then there is the matter of digitization, organizational restructuring in the framework of transformation, and the golden visa policy," said Silmy, who has loved playing football since he was a child and continues to do this habit when there is an opportunity.

This message is elaborated into both short-term, mid-term, and long-term programs. "This is what I convey to all levels at Immigration so that President Jokowi's message can be realized," he said.

Because what he is handling now is not a BUMN, the parameters for success, continued Silmy, are slightly different. "In the past, at BUMN, our parameter was profit and loss, from loss to profit. Now here service and problem-solving. The benchmark is qualitative, not quantitative," said Silmy, who also enjoys cycling to keep fit.

>

For Silmy Karim, serving the public through the Director General of Immigration is a challenge as well as a trial. “In the era of social media, people are quick to express something if they are not satisfied. Immediately put on social media, soon went viral. I'm monitoring it now with a team that specifically monitors public complaints on social media. So if there are complaints, they can be resolved quickly," said Silmy, who coordinated with officials from relevant agencies and ministries in completing their duties.   

"If I enter with a negative perception and have suspicions, there is already a charge that I want to take action from a negative point of view, it will not be effective. It's better if I treat everything like a white sheet and I start from a positive perspective. With fewer flaws to do something that has the potential to be dirty, automatically it can answer that this agency is clean. Without having to accuse or think an organization is dirty,"