Tourists who have traveled to Bali over the last few years have spoken to an online community group about their experiences with the Bali Immigration Office.
The as-yet formally investigated and anonymously reported messages feature serious accusations that suggest that corruption and extortion are commonplace within the Bali Immigration Office at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Canggu Community and its sister account, Uluwatu Community, are social media citizen journalism accounts on Instagram with over 73,000 followers.
Both accounts are amongst the most active social media forums for tourists, digital nomads, and expats in Bali, and the communities often share anonymous Instagram stories featuring direct messages from followers who wish to discuss important topics such as scams, corruption, crime, and local controversies.
Over the last week, the Canggu Community has been amassing a collection of stories focusing on negative experiences tourists have encountered, specifically with immigration officials at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport. This immigration office is not unfamiliar with accusations of extortion and corruption.
In November 2023, five immigration officers at I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport were arrested, and the case was handed over to the Bali Prosecutor’s Office Special Crimes Department.
The five men were arrested after being found to have been extorting money from tourists to use the VIP fast track lane at Bali’s Immigration area.
The fast-track immigration line is a free-to-use service for VIP arrivals, elderly people, or those with additional needs; sometimes, travelers with young families are permitted to use the fast-track immigration line, too.
The stories submitted to Canggu Community outline serious allegations of corruption, extortion, and abuse carried out by immigration officials at Bali Airport.
Canggu Community outlined, “It’s hard to believe so many people are facing similar issues. Could there be misbehavior behind the scenes that higher-ups aren’t noticing?”
Canggu Community asks, “If the bridge between Bali and the international world becomes untrusted, whom can foreigners rely on when visiting the island?”
The reports also include stories from tourists who claim to have experienced abuse and harassment at the taxi pick-up area, outside the terminal building, too.
One anonymous community member shared her story with the group. The woman explained how an “immigration officer on arrival hinted that he wanted me and hinted he wanted to come visit me. I translated it as a joke, but it was very unpleasant. He did not want to let me through, and I said I was constantly flying in and out.”
She went on to say, “He did not want to let me through without [giving] a phone number.” The woman also attached screenshots of what appears to be a WhatsApp interaction with the immigration officer, that suggests he wished to meet her in person.
Another expat in Bali wrote in to share, “I landed in Bali Airport around midnight. When I got to immigration, the officer said my KITAS wasn’t valid (even though I had just renewed it). She told me that if I paid her 500 USD, she would let me enter the country with no problems.”
The source explained how they took out their phone to contact their visa agent when the immigration officer got angry and accused them of taking photos. The immigration officer is said to have grabbed the phone and scrolled through the messages.
Stories also include reports of immigration officials potentially damaging tourists’ passports in order to extort money out of them, as well as accusations that immigration officials have sold or published tourists’ personal information to third-party criminals and scammers.
The stories shared by the Canggu Community post are just a fraction of the number of direct messages they shared anonymously on their Instagram stories over the last week. The serious reports of abuse, corruption, exploitation, and harassment remain anecdotal accounts and have not been formally reported to the authorities for investigation.
Many of those impacted by these situations fear for their safety in Indonesia should they make a formal complaint; many fear that they would not be believed, and many simply wouldn’t know where to report such matters.
I Gusti Ngurah Rai International is considered to be a “Corruption Free Area,’ and an agreement was signed in 2019 in commitment to this policy. Neither I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport nor the Bali Immigration Office or the Indonesian Directorate General of Immigration have issued a response to the viral post.
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