{"id":40720,"date":"2026-03-31T18:29:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:29:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=40720"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:29:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:29:37","slug":"is-extortion-widespread-at-indonesias-entry-points-officers-firing-sparks-concern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=40720","title":{"rendered":"Is extortion widespread at Indonesia\u2019s entry points? Officer\u2019s firing sparks concern"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/31\/094bc25c-466b-426e-af41-349319cf0ed3_123087ca.jpg?itok=ReKaI8HC&amp;v=1774950052\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">The firing of an <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Indonesian<\/span> immigration officer at a Batam seaport, following reports of extortion of foreign tourists, has raised questions about the prevalence of such practices across the country\u2019s entry points.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Batam, in Indonesia\u2019s Riau Islands province, is a popular destination for visitors from nearby <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Singapore<\/span> as it boasts scenic beaches an hour\u2019s ferry ride from the city state.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The island\u2019s appeal has recently been marred by allegations of extortion by immigration officers at Batam Centre International Ferry Terminal, with several Singapore tourists saying they had to cough up as much as S$250 (US$194) to pass entry checks, which should have been free for all Southeast Asian visitors.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Extortion during immigration checks is reportedly a notorious trend in Indonesia. Last year, the immigration office fired dozens of officers after the Chinese embassy sent a letter <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">exposing systemic extortion<\/span> at Jakarta\u2019s main Soekarno-Hatta airport between February 2024 and January 2025.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">A Singaporean tourist, identified as AC, told media from the city state on March 25 that he and his partner were brought to a \u201chidden interrogation room\u201d at the Batam terminal by an immigration officer after moving to a shorter auto-gate line. AC claimed that other foreigners from Malaysia, China, the Philippines and Bangladesh were also in the room.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">AC said there was nobody behind them in the line, but the officer told him that \u201che acted disrespectfully by crossing the railing\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/week-asia\/people\/article\/3348544\/extortion-widespread-indonesias-entry-points-officers-firing-sparks-concern?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The firing of an Indonesian immigration officer at a Batam seaport, following reports of extortion of foreign tourists, has raised questions about the prevalence of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":40721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[2798,12336,19406,7751,5325,7479,277,951,11568],"class_list":["post-40720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-concern","tag-entry","tag-extortion","tag-firing","tag-indonesias","tag-officers","tag-points","tag-sparks","tag-widespread","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/40721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}