JAKARTA: Indonesian immigration officers in Bali have started special patrols to monitor foreign nationals visiting the holiday island, officials said on Wednesday, following a rise in criminal activity involving tourists.
More than 6.9 million foreigners visited Bali in 2025, making up over 44 percent of international tourists visiting Indonesia last year.
Legal cases involving foreign travelers surged during that period, with immigration officials deporting around 2,600 foreign nationals and placing some 2,000 others in detention between January and July 2025, compared to the hundreds recorded in 2024, government data showed.
“The formation of this Immigration Patrol Task Force is a concrete step to maintain stability and security in Bali, Indonesia’s leading tourist destination,” Hendarsam Marantoko, director-general of immigration in Indonesia, said on Wednesday.
The patrols will be focused on areas popular among foreign tourists, including Canggu, Kerobokan, Kediri and Ubud, the Bali Regional Office of Immigration told Arab News in a statement.
The task force will provide a quick response to any potential crime and is aimed at reducing the number of legal violations by foreign nationals, it added.
Immigration officers in Bali have deported at least 165 foreign nationals this year, with another 62 people placed in detention.
Indonesia’s top tourist destination has had a series of brutal crimes and cases of misbehaving tourists in recent weeks, including the kidnapping and murder of a Ukrainian man, whose dismembered remains were discovered last month in Bali’s Gianyar regency.
Bali police have named seven foreign suspects in the case, but only one, a Nigerian national, has so far been arrested, while the others, who are reportedly from Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan, remain at large outside Indonesia.
Other cases in March alone include the fatal stabbing of a Dutch national near Kerobokan village, a popular tourist area, involving two Brazilian suspects, and the arrest of Scottish crime boss, Steven Lyons, at Bali’s Ngurah Rai International Airport.
Lyons, who is wanted in Spain and the UK in connection with organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering, was named in a red notice issued by the global police agency Interpol.
A Swiss national was also arrested last month on charges of hate speech. He faces up to five years in prison for insulting a Hindu religious holiday, Nyepi, that was observed island-wide by the Balinese.
Aside from the special patrols, Indonesian immigration officers will also work with village officials and Balinese public figures to monitor foreign nationals and their activities at the community level.
“We will continue to intensify our monitoring, whether through routine patrols at the regional level or national-scale operations, to maintain security and increase public trust in immigration,” Marantoko said.
“Bali must continue to be a welcoming destination for quality tourists, while remaining firm in its response to any violations against applicable laws and regulations.”
