Can I holiday in Indonesia with a Criminal Record?

[Keith H]

Hi there, I am a gay guy, and as such got an internet (only) addiction to looking at guys, this lead to me looking at teen boys, and then 3 years a go a visit from the police. I am totally clean now of this awful compulsion and I want to stress that it was only an internet problem. Anyway, I am now on the Sexual offenders register (SOR) and as such are banned from visiting many Asian countries. I have always love seeing different cultures and travelling to experience the food, meet the people in cheaper less developed countries. Sadly these countries also experience a lot of child abuse, which is horrendous. Sadly for me there is no leeway as the countries take no risks. I understand that.

In the future I would like to travel in Indonesia. There is no visa requirement for us Brits and I am told by my PPU officer that I can travel to Indonesia. However, I visited my Filipino bf last February, only to be refused entry just 8 weeks later when I wanted to celebrate his birthday. This was the worst experience of my life, and now I am very cautious when travelling.

I am a good person, so can anyone tell me the situation if I ever wanted to explore Indonesia?

 

[atlantis]

Hi Keith H,

Thanks for being upfront and coming clean about your past in your post.

As a matter of fact several foreigners have been denied entry to Indonesia in a recent past for having prior convictions for sexual offenses in their respective countries. It is in fact a duty of Indonesian Immigration officer to systematically deny entry to whoever being registered for having participated in any network encouraging prostitution practicces or activities, human trafficking or people smuggling. This is in line with art. 13 UU 6/2011 ttg keimigrasian (Immigration Act).

Just last August, in my city's airport, an American citizen has been sent back home upon arrival for a sexual criminal offense having occurred almost two decades ago. He arrived at.1.35 pm and was sent back by the same plane to S'pore an hour later only. Immigration officers were waiting for him at the door of the plane and immediately took care of him, which implies that before arrival they were already fully aware of his former conviction.

In further interviews with our local medias, Immigration officers stated that they were aware of it because they screened the DitJenIm database, as they do for every international flight and got the information thanks to the cooperation between Indonesia and foreign governments.

I would advise you not to come to Indonesia.

For the record, full name, pictures of the American guy, interview and full details of the conviction have been widely communicated by the Indonesian local and national medias at the time they refused him entry. I guess that the guy didn't realize that it would make a 20 years old story coming up to the surface and now available to anyone checking his name. This is a risk you also should ponder.

This is far from being an isolated case. Routinely, Imigrasi refuses entry to foreigners and systematically screen the name and details of passengers on international flights.

 

[snpark]

Who refused you entry? Immigration in :Manila?
If so, then it is likely you are on a watch list so yes most likely you will be refused entry here too

Lot of red warning flags I'm afraid
Maybe Asia isn't the best destination in all due circumstances. Europe and USA also has nice culture

BTW not sure I understand your opening sentence? "Hi there, I am a gay guy, and as such got an internet (only) addiction to looking at guys"

Did you get the addiction because you are a gay guy? I am confused

But to answer you, yes most likely you would be on a global watch list, especially if you are looking to come to Asian countries under the circumstances. I would suggest also that temptation might be too much for you to do something you regret, especially in Indonesia which can be very strict and unwelcoming for gays. Just an honest opinion, for you to be aware of the culture and society here (plus the antiquated laws / religious groups etc)

 

[snpark]

Atlantis seems we both replied same time

 

[Puspawarna]

BTW not sure I understand your opening sentence? "Hi there, I am a gay guy, and as such got an internet (only) addiction to looking at guys"

Did you get the addiction because you are a gay guy? I am confused

Thanks for pointing this out, snpark. While I have compassion for the OP (surely no one in their right mind would want to be attracted to underage kids), it is wrong to imply a connection between being gay and pedophiliac tendencies. The vast majority of gays have age-appropriate attractions and relationships, just like straight people. As for pedophiles, some are attracted to boys, some to girls, some to both.

Gay people face enough discrimination without adding to the false belief that they are intrinsically child abusers.

 

[lifelongexpat]

I wouldn't try Ghana either...

 

[snpark]

I have always love seeing different cultures and travelling to ...meet the people in cheaper less developed countries.

Hhhhmmmmm
Cheaper??
And yes, there is irony on both sides of that sentence

 

[Keith H]

Hi Keith H,

Thanks for being upfront and coming clean about your past in your post.

As a matter of fact several foreigners have been denied entry to Indonesia in a recent past for having prior convictions for sexual offenses in their respective countries. It is in fact a duty of Indonesian Immigration officer to systematically deny entry to whoever being registered for having participated in any network encouraging prostitution practicces or activities, human trafficking or people smuggling. This is in line with art. 13 UU 6/2011 ttg keimigrasian (Immigration Act).

Just last August, in my city's airport, an American citizen has been sent back home upon arrival for a sexual criminal offense having occurred almost two decades ago. He arrived at.1.35 pm and was sent back by the same plane to S'pore an hour later only. Immigration officers were waiting for him at the door of the plane and immediately took care of him, which implies that before arrival they were already fully aware of his former conviction.

In further interviews with our local medias, Immigration officers stated that they were aware of it because they screened the DitJenIm database, as they do for every international flight and got the information thanks to the cooperation between Indonesia and foreign governments.

I would advise you not to come to Indonesia.

For the record, full name, pictures of the American guy, interview and full details of the conviction have been widely communicated by the Indonesian local and national medias at the time they refused him entry. I guess that the guy didn't realize that it would make a 20 years old story coming up to the surface and now available to anyone checking his name. This is a risk you also should ponder.

This is far from being an isolated case. Routinely, Imigrasi refuses entry to foreigners and systematically screen the name and details of passengers on international flights.

That is exactly the type of information I wanted, so I really appreciate it. My offence was only an internet one, but it seems the fear that someone with the history such as mine, is over-stated, but then again I understand not everyone is like me, and children should be protected from these evil predators.

 

[Keith H]

Who refused you entry? Immigration in :Manila?
If so, then it is likely you are on a watch list so yes most likely you will be refused entry here too

Lot of red warning flags I'm afraid
Maybe Asia isn't the best destination in all due circumstances. Europe and USA also has nice culture

BTW not sure I understand your opening sentence? "Hi there, I am a gay guy, and as such got an internet (only) addiction to looking at guys"

Did you get the addiction because you are a gay guy? I am confused

But to answer you, yes most likely you would be on a global watch list, especially if you are looking to come to Asian countries under the circumstances. I would suggest also that temptation might be too much for you to do something you regret, especially in Indonesia which can be very strict and unwelcoming for gays. Just an honest opinion, for you to be aware of the culture and society here (plus the antiquated laws / religious groups etc)

Thank you for your reply. I was trying to explain that as a gay guy I just got drawn into teenage guys through Twitter, but as I am sure many people who look at porn, it can become very addictive. I fully understand now how dangerous pornography be to peoples lives and relationships, and I thanked the police when they visited me. I now have no interest whatsoever on any porn, and feel so much better for it. So I made a mistake, and the ratifications have been that my gay friends in the Philippines and Malaysia are now out of reach. Besides visiting my daughter in New Zealand (and that is not straight forward) I will holiday in Europe. Such a hard thing to live with as I am treated as if I am a hardened criminal. That's part of my punishment.

 

[snpark]

No harm or offence intended, we all just being straight to the point about "risks" etc here

At least you are frank and honest about your situation

 

[dafluff]

MOD NOTE: As this thread has generated conversation off topic and beyond the scope of the Visa, Permits and Immigration (VPI) forum, it has been copied, in its entirety (up to post 46 as this is being written), to the General Chat subforum. You can visit that thread here: https://forum.expatindo.org/threads/can-i-holiday-in-indonesia-with-a-criminal-record.3454/

The original thread (in the VPI forum) will be left in place with the factual answers given.

We decided to move the thread, rather than simply get rid of the posts that didn’t belong in the Visas subforum, because the comments and discussion that the OP’s question generated address some interesting issues.