Immigration Ministry Removes 30 Soekarno-Hatta Airport Immigration Officials Over Alleged Extortion of Chinese Nationals
JAKARTA, investortrust.id – The Ministry of Immigration and Corrections has removed approximately 30 immigration officials from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport following allegations of extortion against Chinese nationals.
Immigration Minister Agus Andrianto explained that the removals were triggered by information from the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, which reported 44 instances of illegal fees being charged by immigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta Airport to Chinese nationals.
"After receiving all the data, we immediately reassigned all the officers listed in the data from their assignments at Soetta. We replaced them," said Agus, as quoted by Antara on Monday, Feb 3, 2025.
Agus stated that the approximately 30 immigration officials removed from their posts are currently under investigation by the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections.
Previously, an official letter from the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, dated Jan 21, 2025, was circulated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The letter detailed cases of extortion involving Chinese nationals at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
The Chinese Embassy reported resolving at least 44 extortion cases, with a total of Rp 32.75 million ($2,003) refunded to over 60 Chinese nationals.
"This is just a small portion of the numerous extortion cases, as many Chinese nationals did not file complaints due to tight schedules or fear of retaliation when entering their destination countries," the Chinese Embassy wrote in the letter.
Furthermore, the Chinese Embassy recommended the installation of signs in Indonesian, Mandarin, and English, such as “No Tipping Allowed” and “Please Report Any Extortion,” in immigration inspection areas to combat extortion at the airport.
The embassy also called for a ban on tipping to be communicated to Chinese travel agents, so they would no longer advise Chinese tourists to bribe airport immigration officers in Indonesia.