Kemen Imipas Removes About 30 Soetta Airport Immigration Officials Due To Extortion To Chinese Citizens

Minister Imipas Agus Andrianto (center) cut the cone at the 75th HBI commemoration in Jakarta, Friday (31/1/2025). ANTARA/HO-Humas Directorate General of Immigration

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections (Kemen Imipas) stated that it had removed about 30 immigration officials at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

Minister Imipas Agus Andrianto explained that the removal was carried out due to information from the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia regarding 44 cases of illegal levies by immigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport to Chinese citizens.

"After we received all the data, we immediately withdrew all (officers, ed.) in the data from the assignment in Soetta. We changed it," Agus said in a statement received in Jakarta, Antara, Sunday, February 2.

In addition, about 30 immigration officials are being investigated by the internal Kemen Imipas.

Previously, an official letter from the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia was circulated dated January 21, 2025, and was directed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the extortion case against Chinese citizens that occurred at Jakarta International Airport or Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

The Chinese embassy said that they had completed at least 44 cases of extortion, with a total of around Rp32,750,000 in cash returned to more than 60 Chinese citizens.

"This is only a small part of the many cases of extortion because there are many Chinese citizens who do not file complaints because of a busy schedule or are afraid of countermeasures when entering their destination country," the Chinese Embassy wrote in the letter.

In addition, the Chinese Embassy hopes that a sign that reads 'Prohibited from giving tips', 'Please report if extortion occurs' in Indonesian, Chinese, and English, can be installed at immigration checkpoints to eradicate extortion problems at airports.

The embassy also hopes that a ban on giving tips can be issued to Chinese travel agents, so they will not advise Chinese tourists to bribe airport immigration officers in Indonesia.