Bali Set To Deport British Man For Setting Up Mobile Food Cart Without Work Visa

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Immigration and police officials in Bali have begun the deportation process of a British man who had illegally set up a mobile food cart in Kuta. The man, known by his initials TDL, was arrested by Kuta Police after a video of him selling burgers went viral.

In the video, TDL can be seen selling burgers from his mobile food cart close to the Bali Bombing Memorial in central Kuta. He is flipping halal burgers and blasting out tunes, and dancing off the side of the cart. Gathering much attention from passers-by and a good number of customers, TDL made no effort to conceal his illegal operation.

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TDL’s actions were reported to Head of the traditional village of Kuta, Wayan Wasista, who followed up on the case and handed the information over to Bali Immigration. According to local reports, TDL had been running the food cart for three weeks. Wasista reported that during interrogation, TDL said, “I sell around in the Kuta area, so I don’t stay. In the morning, there are pancakes, and in the evening, there are burgers. Everything is halal”.

Police have formally begun the deportation process. It is believed that he is being deported on several charges, most likely that he was going against the conditions of his visa by working or trying to set up a business. There are also illegalities not relating to his visa, such as selling food without business licenses and causing a public nuisance by playing music and having the food cart on a public road.

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Wasista also suggested that TDL was wanted by police for causing a disturbance at the 20th Anniversary Memorial for the Bali Bombings in October. According to Wasista, TDL “threw tantrums” at the memorial service. TDL is not the only foreigner to be deported from Bali in recent weeks. The Bali Regional Office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights has confirmed that 17 people were deported from the island in the space of four weeks over October and November this year.

Speaking to the press, the Head of the Regional Office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, Anggiat Napitupulu, explained that the majority of those deported were sent home as a result of overstaying their visas. Napitupulu said, “There were 17 people (foreigners) consisting of 15 Brazilians, 1 British, and 1 Spaniard. Most of them were due to overstaying”.

He continued, “The administrative action of immigration in the form of deportation is a real form of enforcement of immigration law in the work area of the Class II TPI Singaraja Immigration Office. The foreigners are subject to denial of entry to Indonesian territory within a period of six months”.

On Monday, 21st November, a Polish national was deported from Bali, having completed a three-year prison sentence for skimming ATMs. The man, known by his initials DPL, had spent three years behind bars in Bali. He was found guilty by the Amlapura District Court for carrying out “activities that endanger security and public order, as well as not respecting and not complying with laws and regulations”.

In a bid to crack down on disrespectful behavior by tourists, Bali and its residents are quick to call for the deportation of any foreigner who has either broken the law or has behaved within the law but with disrespect. Just last week, there were calls from the public for police and immigration to deport a foreign couple who were filmed sharing intimacies best kept for the bedroom in a cafe in Ubud in broad daylight.

A video of the incident went viral and caught the attention of some of Bali’s most highly regarded public figures, who called on the government to do more to curtail the actions of ‘garbage tourists’ who tarnish the public image of the island and disrespect local customs.