Move to modernise: Widiyanto presenting the soon-to-be-launched ‘All Indonesia’ app during a media briefing at the consulate.
JOHOR BARU: Starting Monday, all foreign visitors, including Malaysians, who enter Indonesia are required to submit their arrival form via the All Indonesia app or website.
“This one-stop entry form covers the travel itinerary, health information and quarantine declarations,” said consul-general of Indonesia in Johor Baru, Sigit Suryantoro Widiyanto.
The form would need to be submitted three days prior to their arrival in Indonesia, he said.
“The system will be rolled out at nine entry points, including Soekarno-Hatta International Airport near Jakarta and Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, along with seven major seaports nationwide,” he said.
The service is expected to be subsequently extended to all entry points, he added.
“In a move to modernise border management and boost tourism, the digital platform will be launched beginning Sept 1, which replaces three separate forms in the past,” he told a media briefing at the consulate here yesterday.
On another subject, Sigit said that smuggling syndicates are using social media to promote their activities, especially in offering Indonesians illegal cross-border travel between both countries.
He said that some of them would promote their services using online videos and catchy tunes.
“Based on our investigations, a trip between the Riau Islands and Johor Baru is between 3.5 million rupiah (RM896) and four million rupiah (RM1,024). A trip from Johor to Batam is about RM1,200 to RM1,500,” he said.
These syndicates were putting up new posts regularly to counter efforts by the Indonesian authorities to remove them, he said.
“We have noticed that the peak period for such illegal travel is before and after Hari Raya,” he said.
Sigit said the consulate had also been using social media such as TikTok to advise their nationals against going to such syndicates.
He said that many of them had fallen victim to fraud after making payments for the trip.
According to him, the tekong (boatmen) included both Indonesians and Malaysians.
He added that they hope to work with Malaysian agencies to take down such advertisements on local social media sites.
In response to enquiries regarding illegal travel to other regions of Malaysia, he noted that syndicates also offer trips between the Riau Islands and both Melaka and Selangor.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Sigit said each boat was packed with up to 50 to 60 passengers.
Occasionally, these boats would capsize, resulting in casualties, he added.
“Now they travel in smaller numbers of 15 to 20 people. This would enable the boat to travel faster. They would also provide the passengers with life jackets,” he said.
Asked about the number of illegals in Johor, he said the official figure was 132,000 registered workers in Johor, Pahang, Melaka and Negri Sembilan.
“As for illegals, the number could be either two or three times more,” he said.
