Indonesia fires dozens of immigration officers after leak details airport extortion scheme

Indonesia has removed dozens of immigration officers and launched an internal investigation after a leaked diplomatic letter from the Chinese embassy exposed allegations of systemic extortion at Jakarta’s main airport and reignited concerns over corruption in law enforcement.

The letter, dated January 21, appears to have been sent to Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and details how the embassy has “solved at least 44 cases of extortion” by immigration officials against Chinese nationals who arrived at Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta airport between February of last year and January. It says more than 32 million rupiah (US$1,950) in extortion money has been returned to more than 60 Chinese nationals.

“It is just a tip of the iceberg since many more Chinese nationals who were extorted did not file complaints due to tight schedules or fear of reprisals upon future entries,” the letter reads.

To alleviate the problem, the message asks Indonesian officials to put up “no tips” or “please report if there is extortion” signs in Chinese, Indonesian and English at all immigration checkpoints. Chinese travel agencies were also advised to tell Chinese travellers not to “bribe the immigration officers”.

The letter, which went viral after it was shared online, also includes the names of the alleged extortion victims, who purportedly paid officials in amounts ranging from 50,000 rupiah to 1.6 million rupiah, sometimes more than once during entry and exit.