Immigration officials have launched a new hotline for concerned citizens to report tourists who have been behaving badly on the island.
The move comes as the Director General of Immigration for Indonesia has also launched a new task force dedicated to eliminating disrespectful and illegal behavior by foreigners in the province.
Speaking to reporters at the launch of the new Bali Becik Task Force, Director General of Immigration Silmy Karim explained how the new hotline will work and why it is needed.
He explained, “We, from the Bali Becik Task Force, invite the people of Bali to report foreigners who violate the hotline number 08 139 9679 966. Community participation is certainly very much needed in supervising and taking action against unruly tourists.”
Karim explained that the Bali Becik Task Force will be working on cracking down on lawless foreigners in Bali until the end of the year.
The huge mission is a collaborative effort between the Immigration offices in Denpasar, Ngurah Rai, Singaraja, as well as the Bali Regional Office for the Ministry of Law and Human Rights and the Denpasar Detention Centre.
The Bali Becik Task Force is currently comprised of a team of 25 officers who will be coordinating the tourist control missions in partnership with the immigration offices, police forces, and local community groups.
Director General Karim has issued the Bali Becik Task Force with targets to carry out 100 control operations on badly behaved foreigners every month, many of which are predicted to will result in deportations.
Nevertheless, Karim has assured tourism stakeholders that the sector will not be disturbed by the work.
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Becik means ‘good’ or ‘well’ in the Balinese language. DG Karim assured reporters that Bali Becik Task Force is working in accordance with the Decree of the Director General of Immigration Number IMI-0187.GR.01.01 dated 23 June 2023.
He added, “As the name implies, the Bali Becik Task Force aims for a safer Bali…With this task force, I hope Bali Becik can really come true.”
Director General Karim explained, “The formation of the Bali Becik Task Force is due to the rise of tourists who misbehave. So, in the future, it can minimize the actions of naughty tourists in Bali,”
Adding, “The main problem regarding foreigners in Bali is the large number of foreign tourists (tourists) with low spending who often make trouble.”
Director General Karim noted that this is “because Bali is included in the category of cheap tourist destinations, so it attracts thin-pocketed tourists.”
Speaking separately, the Head of the Bali Tourism Office, Tjok Bagus Pemayun, shared his support for the new Task Force.
He shared, “It is good that the Task Force has been formed.”
When asked about how the Bali Becik Task Force, under the supervision of the Director General of Immigration for Indonesia, would work given that provincial task forces are already operating in the community.
Pemayun said, “Later, we coordinate with each other,” noting that the provincial task forces have a strong focus on preserving culture and promoting culturally dignified tourism.
The launch of the new hotline will be well received by many local communities in Bali.
Over the last few months, many local people and communities have felt frustrated by the rising number of badly behaved tourists on the island.
Although concerned residents could always make formal reports to immigration departments and the police, anecdotal reports suggest that these complaints were seldom followed up with.
This led to frustrated community members taking to social media in order to make videos of foreigners behaving badly go viral, in turn putting greater pressure on the authorizers and ensuring that wider media outlets caught hold of the stories.
This led to Pemayun making a formal announcement calling on local people to stop sharing videos of foreigners behaving badly in Bali, urging concerned residents to use the formal reporting channels.
The new hotline is already up and running and available for both concerned local residents and visitors to report unruly behavior.
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Hns
Thursday 27th of July 2023
Sorry, I don’t understand this: “ He explained, “We, from the Bali Becik Task Force, invite the people of Bali to report foreigners who violate the hotline number 08 139 9679 966”. What does he means with violating the hotlinenumber?
James Bond
Tuesday 25th of July 2023
If you want high class tourists then first clean up your island which is riddled with rubbish all over, super bad traffic and in general deteriorated buildings. High class tourist go to high class places.
Humble Tourist Joe
Tuesday 25th of July 2023
Where do we - the TOURISTS - report badly behaving LOCALS? Those trying to rip off tourists with overpriced fruits and SIM cards, to Taxis requesting crazy sums of money going To/From the Airport, to beggars bothering us, to destroyed sidewalks, to FAKE BLESSING "RITUALS" at temples - how can WE complain while spending our hard-earned money on your island?
Exp
Wednesday 26th of July 2023
@Humble Tourist Joe, Search "Pro Denpasar" -- a webpage used by locals to report all kinds of issues as you mention. If unable to create user, then just send email directly to admin, see "Contact Us". I have used this way several times with a lot of actions taken and photo evidence uploaded
Frustrated too
Tuesday 25th of July 2023
Foreigners should be encouraged to use the hotline to report badly behaving Indonesians
Seek
Tuesday 25th of July 2023
The thin pocket visitors are mostly bona fide tourists. Some are long term settlers to escape living cost pressure, social issues, unemployment abroad. Trblmkers tend to be those with the later issues.