Similar to Tangerang, Bekasi Immigration Also Heighten Security

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The previously announced shocking news regarding 16 Indonesians who went missing in Turkey and their possibility of crossing the border to join the extremist group ISIS in Syria has provoked the need for Indonesian immigrations to tighten its security.

The immigration office at Bekasi, West Java has decided to be stricter upon passport- making request. 

So, those who request to make passports will be interrogated more seriously as to find out their intention to make one. 

This is to prevent those who make one for pejorative purposes such as those who have been caught trying to cross the border in the Middle-Eastern area.

As has been shown on Liputan 6 Siang SCTV on Tuesday (31/3/2015), the immigration security measure is mostly placed upon the interview session where the person requesting to make a passport will be background-checked and interrogated more seriously.

This is to anticipate individuals who are planning to travel abroad to countries in the Middle-East. 

More focus in placed upon those who may be the potential members of ISIS.

With many Indonesians evidently fleeing off the country to embark on the land where ISIS is most dominant, government in encouraged to escalate security measures as to prevent them from having the access to get there in the first place. 

Banten immigration has decided to tighten security on passport-making permits for those with the intention to fly abroad to the areas of Middles-East. 

This decision is a repercussion to the recent raid on a number of individuals speculated to be members of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) at South Tangerang, Banten on Sunday, 22 March 2015.

"Regarding ISIS, Banten immigration will tighten security. This will be placed upon the passport- granting procedure such as the interview session. Should there be any suspicious gesture during interview, the person will be investigated and thereafter we will decide whether or not the person is allowed to go or not," The Head of Serang Immigration, M Thamrin informed on Monday 23 March 2015.

According to him, immigration always comply with the procedure and the law in accordance to the Act Number 6 year of 2011 about Immigration, Government Rules (PP) 31 year of 2013 and Ministerial Law (Permen) justice and human rights (HAM) number 8 year of 2014.

So this time, not just the law that they will abide to but also the need to heighten security measure through a more in- depth interview session with the individuals attempting to fly to Middle-Eastern countries.

Thamrin added, should there be any individual indication suspicious behaviour during interview, the immigration will coordinate with involving bodies and instances such as the national intelligence, police force and the Indonesian National Anti-Terrorist Agency (BNPT).

"Any suspicious behaviour present during interview will be investigated further and we will have the relevant parties acknowledged," Thamrin continued.

However, Thamrin claimed that thus far, there is not a single person who requests for passport- making with the intention to go to Turkey or Syria. Many of them requested to go to Saudi Arabia. 

But of course, those who travel to Saudi Arabia can travel by train or any other vehicular mode to the other destination from Arab countries. 

This is deeply concerning for the authorities and they are doing whatever they can to prevent the escalating number of Indonesians joining ISIS.

"Most of them requested to go to Saudi Arabia. Yes, almost 75% of them wanted to go there to perform the religious routine 'umrah'. As for turkey and Syria, I haven't seen a single person requesting to go there," M Thamrin concluded. (Akp/Tnt)