Foreign Worker Permits Grease Money

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The KPK is investigating extortion in the processing of foreigners’ work permits at the Manpower Ministry. It also happens in other institutions.

THE revelation of extortion of foreign workers at the Manpower Ministry shows the poor support for the investment climate in Indonesia. Those recruiting staff are usually foreign companies investing capital in a number of sectors. Government officials should be supporting these investments, not turning it into a cash cow.

Extortion in the ministry is on a massive scale. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has named eight suspects. Two of them are the former Directors-General of Manpower Placement and Expansion of Employment Opportunities. The six other suspects are civil servants holding various positions in the ministry.

This extortion takes place at almost every stage of the processing of the Foreign Worker Employment Plan (RPTKA). From 2019 to 2025, according to the KPK, the proceeds from this extortion totaled Rp53.7 billion. But these are only the initial findings. The KPK suspects that these crimes began back in 2012. Investigators have already summoned three special staff of the Manpower Ministry from 2014 to 2019 and 2019 to 2024. If the KPK can gather sufficient evidence, they should not hesitate to take action against the people at the top of the ministry involved in this extortion.

Their tactics are simple, and the practices are brazen. Through employment agencies, recruiting companies process RPTKA at the Manpower Ministry. This process should be free. But the fact is that there are levies at almost every stage. They ask for grease money to ensure that the RPTKA is approved and the foreign staff can immediately start working.

The RPTKA is important because it is the basis for the application of a limited stay permit, or KITAS, and working visa to the Director-General of Immigration at the Ministry of Immigration and Corrections. Without a KITAS, a foreigner cannot live or work in Indonesia. At this stage, the agency and the foreign worker recruiting companies once again become victims. This magazine has obtained information that the bureaucratic KITAS procedures also provide an opportunity for extortion.

And even when the documents are already in their hands, foreign workers are not yet “safe.” Corrupt officials often target them. Immigration officials often carry out illegal raids. They detain foreign workers and then extort them, claiming that they are working outside their permitted area. For example, in line with the RPTKA, a foreigner works at a mining company in Morowali, Central Sulawesi. If they attend a seminar in Jakarta, authorities accuse them of violating immigration procedures because they consider it outside their work area.

The Police also have authority over permits for foreign workers. The problem is that there are officers who misuse this authority. Crooked police officers use similar methods to those of immigration officials, and as a result, foreign workers are often victims of extortion. Matters become worse because the victims and companies are reluctant to report these crimes by immigration and police officials because they do not want the “problems” to be protracted. As a result, the extortions continue.

Given these various means of extortion, KPK investigators should not only focus on the Manpower Ministry. The only way to improve global investor trust is through serious law enforcement.

Read the Complete Story in Tempo English Magazine

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