Director General of Immigration Outlines Three National Pillars for Strengthening Indonesia's Borders at DGICM 2026 Forum

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA – Indonesia’s Director General of Immigration, Hendarsam Marantoko, outlined three pillars of the national immigration strategy during the 29th Meeting of the ASEAN Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs (DGICM), held from June 23–25, 2026, in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The strategy focuses on strengthening border inspections, monitoring foreign nationals, and integrating digital services.

"Strengthening border inspections, monitoring foreign nationals, and integrating digital services form the three pillars supporting Indonesia's immigration system. Backed by inter-agency collaboration, we have successfully achieved early detection of immigration violations and transnational crimes—whether before, during, or after the inspection process," Hendarsam stated in his opening remarks.

Hendarsam further explained that regarding border security, the Directorate General of Immigration is optimizing risk-based analysis through the Passenger Analysis Unit (PAU) at Immigration Checkpoints (TPI) and the Immigration Traffic Monitoring Center (ITMC) at the central level.

He also highlighted the effectiveness of the Foreigner Reporting Application (APOA)—integrated with the Indonesian National Police (Polri)—which contributed to the arrest of 210 foreign nationals involved in an online investment fraud case in Batam in early May 2026, as part of efforts to prevent the misuse of stay permits.

On the same day, the Director General of Immigration also attended a bilateral meeting with Australia’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA). “Today, I had the opportunity to hold a dialogue with Australia’s DHA. The timing was opportune for us to propose that the Australian government manage the Working Holiday Visa issuance process for Indonesian citizens using a ‘Ballot System.’ We believe this approach is better suited to ensuring fairness, transparency, and efficiency in handling the high volume of applicants from Indonesia,” explained Hendarsam.

At the regional level, Indonesia has been appointed as the Voluntary Lead Shepherd (VLS) for the issue of People Smuggling within the framework of the DGICM Plan of Action (PoA). Meanwhile, other areas of regional cooperation are led by Cambodia (Intelligence Data Sharing Protocol), Malaysia (Foreign Terrorist Fighters Movement), Singapore (Fraudulent Travel Documents), and Brunei Darussalam (Consular Matters).

"The challenges posed by transnational crime require integrated solutions. Through Indonesia’s mandate as the Lead Shepherd for addressing people smuggling, we urge all ASEAN members to demonstrate a concrete commitment to strengthening intelligence information exchange and technological alignment, aiming for a safer and more resilient region," concluded Hendarsam.