Indonesian Government Deports Two British Nationals Who Fled Hotel Quarantine

▲British man and woman who escaped to avoid mandatory hotel quarantine [Source = Screenshot from Sukarno-Hatta Immigration Office Instagram]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Indonesian authorities have located and deported two British nationals who fled mandatory 5-day hotel quarantine after entering the country.

According to Indonesia's immigration office and Kompas on the 31st, a 39-year-old British man and a 32-year-old British woman who arrived on the 7th of this month through Soekarno-Hatta Airport on the outskirts of Jakarta, requested the taxi driver to stop the car urgently for a restroom break while on their way to the hotel for mandatory quarantine.

They said, "My stomach hurts. I urgently need a restroom," left their luggage in the taxi, got out, and ran away.

The Indonesian government has required all arrivals to undergo a 5-day mandatory hotel quarantine and take two PCR tests since late December last year to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The immigration office and police tracked down the fleeing British man and woman and successfully arrested them on the 20th of this month in Bogor, West Java.

They stated, "We ran away because we did not have enough money for the hotel quarantine," and "We have been staying at cheap hotels and guesthouses during this time."

To complete the hotel quarantine, they would have had to pay over 100,000 KRW per night for a designated hotel room and approximately 130,000 KRW per person for two PCR tests.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Indonesia has banned all foreign entries starting April 2 last year, including suspending tourist visas and visa-on-arrival issuance, allowing only holders of short-term stay visas (ITAS, KITAS) and long-term stay visas (KITAP) to enter.

It was confirmed that the British man and woman held visas permitting entry.

The immigration office contacted the British Embassy and deported them back to the UK on the night of the 26th.

The immigration office announced, "They underestimated Indonesia's quarantine system," and "They are banned from re-entry for one year."

Despite undergoing deportation procedures, the British nationals showed a relaxed attitude by giving thumbs-up signs and smiling, which sparked public outrage.

Previously, bribery to avoid hotel quarantine was also frequently reported.

Jakarta police announced on the 26th of last month that an Indonesian arriving from India, identified as J, paid 6.5 million rupiah (about 500,000 KRW) to two airport workers to exempt him from designated hotel quarantine, and paid another suspect 4 million rupiah (about 300,000 KRW) to manipulate hotel data.

Since then, monitoring of foreign arrivals' compliance with hotel quarantine has been strengthened, but it is still known that there are many loopholes, such as leaving luggage at the hotel and going home.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.