Yusril Orders Immigration Officials to Comply with KPK Inspection Stages
JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration, and Corrections Yusril Ihza Mahendra instructed Deputy Minister of Immigration Silmy Karim and all Immigration ranks who were summoned by the KPK to be cooperative and comply with all stages of the investigation conducted by the investigative team.
He said the government had full confidence in the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) as an independent institution to thoroughly investigate this case for the sake of justice.
"We ensure that the government will not hinder the legal process. We open the door to the widest possible coordination and are ready to assist the KPK investigators if they need additional data or information," said Yusril as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, June 4.
He appealed to all parties to wait together for the legal process to run until the file was declared sufficient evidence to be tested in court.
Yusril expressed his appreciation for the KPK's consistent performance in eradicating corruption. Regarding the report to the Head of State, he said the President was believed to have received periodic reports from the Attorney General's Office, considering that the KPK is institutionally independent and has no structural obligation to report directly to the President in the field of investigation.
The Coordinating Minister said that the matter currently being rolled out was known to be related to the alleged bureaucracy in the Directorate General of Immigration regarding the acceleration of the issuance of Limited Stay Permit (ITAS) and Permanent Stay Permit (ITAP), especially for Foreign Workers (TKA).
In that case, a number of officials were suspected of collecting unofficial fees outside the provisions so that the documents could be completed faster.
Based on the provisions of the Corruption Criminal Code (UU Tipikor), the act of collecting unilateral fees that are not deposited into the state treasury falls into the category of extortion.
Responding to this situation, the Minister of Immigration and Corrections (Imipas) Agus Andrianto moved quickly by carrying out a total reform of the service system since the first Red and White Cabinet was formed.
The Ministry of Imipas has now officially removed all acceleration schemes for payment outside the procedure, such as the practice of a lightning path for one or two days to be completed with illegal tariffs.
All immigration services are now required to run according to standard procedures, operational costs are ensured to be transparent, and must be fully deposited into the state treasury as Non-Tax State Revenues (PNBP).
The cleaning step is expected to be a reflection and momentum of a total evaluation so that immigration services in the future will be much better, cleaner, and more ethical.