The Role Of General Hoegeng Imam Santoso When Acting Head Of Immigration Department

General Hoegeng Imam Santoso when he was the Head of Djawatan Immigration. (Kompolnas.go.id)

JAKARTA - General Hoegeng Imam Santoso's reputation as a police officer is firm and honest. The great General of the Indonesian Armed Forces, AH Nasution, was attracted. The man who served as Coordinating Minister for Defense and Security (Menko Hankam) wanted to test Hoegeng.

He asked Hoegeng to become the Head of Immigration Department (now: Directorate General of Immigration). A position outside of his career as a police officer. Hoegeng welcomed it well. Various breakthroughs are perpetuated. He was able to change the image of Immigration which is only called a mere stamp. Immigration degree was lifted because of it.

Hoegeng's career as a police officer is quite classy. He never wasted any position given. Especially when Hoegeng was given the task of eradicating corruption, gambling, and smokel (smuggling) in Medan, North Sumatra.

His job as Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of North Sumatra was carried out well. All crime cases were successfully solved. The perpetrator was arrested. Likewise, corrupt officers who support illegal businesses. Hoegeng is firm. He upholds justice indiscriminately. Whoever commits a crime, then he must be held accountable.

The figure of Hoegeng was famous in Medan. Police officials saw him. Hoegeng also took the position and was withdrawn to the Police Headquarters (Mabak). However, Hoegeng's road was not smooth. The issue of Hoegeng's sympathizers of the Indonesian Socialist Party (PSI) emerged. The news made him like it was parked by the government. Hoegeng immediately went to Bung Karno.

He explained that he was not part of PSI. He stated his readiness to defend the country. His meeting with Bung Karno paid off. The great General of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, AH Nasution, immediately offered Hoegeng a new job outside the police force.

AH Nasution has been narrow from the start with Hoegeng's reputation. For him, Hoegeng is a rare figure. Integrity too. Even Hoegeng was then asked to be the Head of the Indonesian Immigration Department. Hoegeng agreed.

Hoegeng was inaugurated as Head of Immigration Java on January 19, 1961 by Coordinating Minister for Defense and Security, General AH Nasution. In an informal conversation after the inauguration ceremony, Nas asked Hoegeng to facilitate immigration administration procedures and work mechanisms, such as processing exit compits and passports. In essence, it is an effort to improve immigration services, to re-enforce the authority of the immigration agency.

Indeed, at that time, the Immigration Agency needed a firm leadership figure. There was a kind of leadership crisis because the people who acted were people from outside the immigration service, such as the Army intelligence service (AD), the honorary council of the National Police, the Military Police (CPM) and the attorney general's office. Immigration agencies seemed to only function as stationers and stamps," said Aris Santoso and his friends in the book Hoegeng: A Cooling Oase in the Middle of Corrupt Behavior of the National Leaders (2009).

General AH Nasution deliberately chose Hoegeng. Djawatan Immigration, which is known to be under the authority of Coordinating Minister Hamkam, requires a firm leadership. Hoegeng is considered to be able to revive immigration in the eyes of the government and society.

All because recently Immigration has been controlled by non-Immigration people. This condition creates the image of the people of Immigration Department such as a stationery and a stamp. Meanwhile, non-Immigration people take over most immigration jobs.

Nasution also specifically detailed his dream of Djawatan Immigration. He wants Djawatan Immigration to accelerate the management and exit of commissions, passports, and other services. Hoegeng agreed.

He is optimistic that he can refresh the Immigration environment. All kinds of work procedures that are chaotic are changed. Even government agencies that want to entrust their people no longer existed during the Hoegeng era.

All Immigration officials are involved in making decisions. Hoegeng received criticism and input well. All kinds of things that hinder the performance of Immigration immediately are removed. The making of passports and exit permits is limited to Hoegeng's management being given a three-day limit.

If the management is delayed, Hoegeng asked the interested party to immediately appear before and appoint an employee who hinders it. Anyone who does not comply with the procedure will be punished.

Everyone who has an interest in Immigration must be served equally, indiscriminately. Hoegeng also strictly prohibits the practice of bribery in the Immigration environment. For him, Immigration honesty must be maintained. Immigration changed faces. According to AH Nasution's dream. Cap Immigration as a stamp no longer heard.

By always maintaining cooperation and ongoing coordination according to legal procedures and mechanisms, I state that I guarantee the smooth management of exit permits and passports. And if within three days it goes wrong, then those with an interest can meet me as Head of the Immigration Office.

"Furthermore, if there is a misappropriation within the Immigration Agency, the person involved will be dealt with. After I spoke, the others used the opportunity to present a response. After the exchange of ideas and thoughts, it was decided by Nasution that the procedures that I had conveyed would be guided," explained Hoegeng as mna, written by Abrar Yusra and Ramadhan KH in the book Hoegeng: Ideal Police and Reality (1993).