High Priority! 71 Indonesian Immigration Officers Suspended for Extorting Chinese

Indonesia's Minister of Immigration and Corrections said he had suspended 71 immigration staff at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta Airport after receiving a diplomatic note from the Chinese Embassy about suspected arbitrary fees at the airport.Between February 2024 and January 2025, 60 Chinese nationals were subjected to 44 incidents of extortion and racketeering, and a total of 32.75 million rupiah has been refunded to Chinese nationals. Investigations found 39 immigration staff who checked Chinese nationals' documents were suspected of being involved in the extortion, and the suspensions included officials at all levels and counter staff. The head of the Immigration Department at the airport has been replaced and the suspended staff are being inspected by the Directorate General of Internal Compliance and will be penalized according to the regulations. The Department of Immigration has also taken measures to prevent the recurrence of arbitrary fees by increasing the number of automatic clearance doors at Soekarno-Hatta Airport to 98 and reducing the number of counter staff from 50 to 15 in order to optimize the airport clearance system and avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.