The Bali government is trying new strategies to deal with the problem of a significant number of misbehaving foreigners.
The Directorate General of Immigration has developed the APOA app to make it easier for concerned Bali residents and businesses to report the whereabouts and activities of foreigners visiting or staying in Bali. The app can be downloaded from the Play Store or from immigration.go.id, the official APOA website.
All tourist hotels in Bali are urged by the TPI Ngurah Rai Immigration Department to support the island-wide initiative to punish unruly foreign visitors.
In order to do this, lodging establishments, including hotels, residences, B&Bs, and guesthouses, will be asked to submit information about their visitors via an app.
The public will also be able to download the app and report foreign visitors they believe are violating local Balinese customs or laws.
Ngurah Rai Sugito, head of the TPI Special Class I Immigration Office, informed journalists that the Foreigner Reporting App (APOA) improves the ‘monitoring” of visitors to the island. “Thanks to the reporting in APOA, we can quickly take action against foreigners who commit violations,” he said.
Sugito told the media that cooperation is needed throughout the island to combat reckless and illegal acts by foreigners.
Sugito stated that he and his team will increase their efforts to convince accommodation owners, tourist attraction operators, and local citizens to report foreigners who break the law in their country.
Every day, about 18,000 foreign visitors arrive in Bali, Sugito said at the press conference announcing the new plan.
“Naughty foreigners who are subject to sanctions include abusing residence permits, bypassing residence permits, and criminal acts that violate the legal norms and rules in force in Indonesia.”
According to recently released data from the Bali Regional Office of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, a total of 188 foreign nationals were deported from the island by the end of August 2023.
The deportees came from 45 different nations, including 12 Austrians, 13 Britons, 14 Americans, and 9 Nigerians.