Sitting About WNA American Overstay In Bali That Makes Angry Citizens

Illustration - Someone is waiting at the airport (Unsplash)

JAKARTA - United States citizen, Kristen Gray, who owns the Twitter account @kristentootie, is in the spotlight because she invites foreigners to move and settle in Bali. Not only that, he also shared tips on avoiding the health protocol rules imposed by the Indonesian government to circumvent residency permits.

Not accepting it, Indonesian netizens unite and criticize Kristen Gray on social media. In fact, due to this spotlight the hashtags #Bali and #bule were hotly discussed on Monday, January 18th.

Tell me about the joy of living in Bali

Before being highlighted by netizens from Indonesia, through his Twitter account, Gray said he had lived on the Island of the Gods for the past year. He came to Bali in 2019 after losing his job in the US.

Together with his partner, he initially tried to stay for six months there. During their stay in Bali, both of them worked as freelancers in the graphic design field.

He shared a story about the cheap cost of living in Bali. To rent a house there, he only needs to pay 400 United States dollars or around Rp.5.6 million.

Gray said, this price is so cheap compared to when he lived in Los Angeles, which had to pay US $ 1,300 or the equivalent of Rp.18.3 million to rent an apartment.

Apart from the cheaper cost of living, Gray also explained the advantages of living in Bali. Starting from a sense of security, low cost of living, luxurious lifestyle, friendly with LGBT, and there is a black community.

However, Gray recently tweeted that he had a special visa service provider agent and admitted that he had a trick to enter Indonesia in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which made Indonesia close its doors to foreigners. This is what makes netizens from Indonesia give the spotlight.

Launching the page of The Independent, Gray's tweet has angered netizens on Twitter. Moreover, Gray, who is a foreigner, openly invites other foreigners to come and settle in Bali by breaking the law.

Citizens also questioned whether Gray paid the visa or taxes to the Indonesian government. Not a few Twitter accounts link the @kristentootie tweet to the @ditjenimigration and the police.

"Reports to @ditjen_imigration go to the admin rspond. As for the need to control, it will be dealt with accordingly. Not discrimination, but law enforcement," tweeted @BetterWithBill.

Reports to @ditjen_imigration will go to the admin rspond. So if it is necessary to control it, it will be dealt with accordingly. Not discrimination, but law enforcement. Reports to immigration, replied by admin. Hoping, if necessary, it'll be dealt with accordingly. Not discrimination, but law enforcement pic.twitter.com/Sfn05k3DHe

- It's Always (@BetterWithBill) January 17, 2021

Immigration authorities are looking for because of overstay

After making a scene on social media, finally, the immigration authorities in the Bali region conducted a search for Kristen Gray. According to the Head of the Immigration Division at the Bali Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Eko Budianto, there are a number of teams deployed to investigate this problem.

"We have sent several teams. One team from the regional office then also from the Ngurah Rai immigration office," he told reporters, Monday, January 18.

He said the first team was in charge of checking Christian's visa sponsor who turned out to be in Bali. "We immediately went down to the address then to (find, red) the whereabouts or place of residence of the (who, red) concerned," said Eko.

Meanwhile, the second team, he continued, was tasked with checking Gray's residence permit in the crossing data. It's just that, until now there is no accurate information, even the foreigners are suspected of not using their real names.

"So far there is no accurate information, it could be a possibility that the name concerned is not the real name," he said.

Government policies that are less organized

Trisakti University Public Policy Observer Trubus Rahardiansyah said what Gray was actually doing was only a small part of the problem. Gray, said Trubus, was just a free rider who took advantage of the chaotic implementation of the foreign entry ban policy.

"The policies are not well-ordered, so many foreigners have entered Indonesia," Trubus told VOI.

Trubus suspects that KITAS is an opening that can be tricked so that foreigners can still enter Indonesia. He mentioned an example of a workforce entering industrial areas involving foreign investors using KITAS.

"The way to do this is to use a KITAS. So pretending that he is not allowed, is prohibited, he continues to have a KITAS. This means that someone is trading KITAS, right?" Trubus questioned.

In implementing the rules prohibiting foreigners from entering Indonesia, Trubus said the anticipatory steps were still weak. "Never mind KITAS, KTP is weak. When it comes to things like that (licensing procedures) our bureaucracy is very easy," he said.

Furthermore, this observer also refers to Gray as a free rider or a person who plays to take advantage in this kind of situation. Trubus even suspected that there was a conspiracy involving bureaucratic elements in Indonesia.

"He's not alone. There must be Indonesians too. If not, that's impossible. How will they enter the bureaucracy?" he said.

Even so, Trubus said the government's efforts to prohibit foreigners from entering in the midst of this pandemic were maximized. It's just that this policy is indeed difficult to implement because there are too many entry points for foreigners to Indonesia.

Foreigners, he said, could not only enter by air, but also use land and sea routes. "How about the coordination. That's the problem. The problem is that Soekarno Hatta Airport is usually tight. But other airports may be less tight," he said.

Not to mention the doorway of other mice such as Entikong, Natuna, including in Medan. "If it is tight, it is impossible for drug smugglers to get in," he said.

"So we only say on paper that it has been closed. But the fact is that these smugglers are really smart. The efforts made by the government are actually already good, yes. Just because of the circumstances, the implementation is rather difficult and causes less optimal," he concluded.