Singaporean Lecturer to be Deported after Living in Indonesia with Fake Identification Documents for Decades

Jun 21, 2023

BLITAR – The Blitar Class II Non-Checkpoint Immigration Office has apprehended a foreign citizen holding a Singaporean passport with the initials MB. The 66-year-old man has been in Indonesia since 1984 and has been using Indonesian identity documents (ID, Family Card, birth certificate) since 2011. He received Immigration Administrative Sanction in the form of deportation on Thursday (21/06/2023) and was subject to prohibited entry. "Immigration has issued a report on the cancellation of the foreigner’s Indonesian passport. The Blitar Immigration Office has also coordinated with the Population and Civil Registry Service of Tulungagung Regency to cancel his Indonesian identity documents such as birth certificates, ID and Family Cards, and was reported to General Election Supervisory Agency (Bawaslu), so that MB is not included in the Permanent Voters List," explained the Head of Regional Division for Immigration of the East Java Regional Office of Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Hendro Tri Prasetyo. Previously, the Head of Blitar Immigration Office, Arief Yudistira, said that from the examination results, they found that the person’s initial purpose of entering Indonesia was for educational reasons. The person studied for a Bachelor's degree in the Malang area and graduated around 2006. "In the period of 1984-1998, MB used a visitor visa with a Singaporean passport. During that time, it was recorded that he entered and exited Indonesia around 10 times," said Arief. MB used an ID card with the initials Y and was written as born in Pacitan in 1973. In fact, the person was born in 1956. His Singaporean passport also stated his birth location, Pachitan. "So in Singapore there is also an area with a similar name to Pacitan, namely Kampong Pachitan off Changi Rd S'pore," he explained. The person was also married to a local resident of Blitar and worked as a lecturer at a campus in Tulungagung Regency. "When we arrested him yesterday, he was still teaching," he explained. His stay as a Singaporean foreigner was not detected by the authorities for quite some time. Arief said that it is because the immigration document data collection at that time was still using conventional methods. This is a loophole for foreigners to do activities without official documents. Author: Ajeng Rahma Safitri, Editor: Achmad Nur Saleh

Last updated 06 December 2024