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SCMP’s Asia desk

Indonesia has deported 92 Chinese suspected scammers and barred them from the country for life in one of the biggest mass exercises in recent years.
The Chinese nationals had been arrested in May in connection with an alleged online gaming and investment fraud syndicate operating from a flat complex in the holiday island of Batam, the Jakarta Globe reported. Others arrested came from Vietnam and Myanmar.
Galih Kartika Perdhana, head of the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport’s immigration office, told the newspaper that Sunday’s mass deportation was carried out at the formal request of the Chinese government.
Beijing covered all transport and operational costs and sent a special team to escort the deportees, who left on a China Southern Airlines flight bound for Guangzhou, Galih said.
Special operational procedures were applied to ensure the deportation did not affect regular passengers.
“We applied a dedicated immigration clearance process, from biometric identity verification to escorted boarding,” he said. “The procedure was specifically designed to ensure the smooth repatriation of all 92 detainees while minimising disruption to regular airport operations.”
Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko said Indonesia took a zero-tolerance approach towards foreign criminals.
“We expect these deportations and lifetime entry bans to serve as a strong deterrent and discourage other foreign nationals from engaging in criminal activities in Indonesia. We will not provide any room for foreigners who threaten public order and national security.”

A similar mass deportation was carried out in September 2023. Dozens of Chinese officers accompanied 153 of their citizens accused of committing love scams on chartered flights out of Indonesia to face criminal charges back home.
Indonesian authorities have been grappling with a wave of online gambling and scam syndicates looking for a new base after being forced out of traditional hubs such as Cambodia and Myanmar.
In two days in May alone, police arrested close to 580 people for allegedly running online scam sites. Most were from China and Vietnam, with a handful from Laos, Myanmar, Japan and Malaysia.
“There are indeed indications that … Indonesia is currently being infiltrated by scammers from Cambodia,” Brigadier General Untung Widyatmoko, secretary of Indonesia’s Interpol bureau, told reporters on May 8.
In another recent large-scale raid, authorities detained 103 Taiwanese suspected of committing cybercrimes at a villa in Bali on June 26.
“During the inspection, we know that they are targeting people in Malaysia. They did their activities in Indonesia but the victims are in other countries, so it is very difficult to fulfil the criminal elements,” said Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights, as reported by Associated Press.
All 103 would be deported soon, he said.
Immigration chief Hendarsam called for a review of Indonesia’s 30-day visa-free policy, which he said was allowing scammers to easily slip into the country.
“Cases of foreigners involved in illegal activities, including those coming from countries granted visa-free entry facilities, give rise to [a need for] evaluation” of policies, he told Agence France-Presse in May.
From January 1 to May 5, immigration authorities carried out 6,779 “administrative actions” – including stay permit cancellations or deportation measures, as well as placements in administrative detention and on the immigration ban list.


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Indonesia deports 92 Chinese nationals, issues lifetime entry bans in anti-scam crackdown

Indonesian Immigration officials escort detained Chinese nationals in November 2025 after they were arrested over allegedly running cyber scams.  Photo: EPA

Chinese nationals are detained after a raid on a shophouse in Batam on August 29, 2023. Photo: AP

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The Chinese nationals were arrested in May in connection with an alleged online gaming and investment fraud syndicate operating from Batam


The Chinese nationals were arrested in May in connection with an alleged online gaming and investment fraud syndicate operating from Batam.


Indonesia deports 92 Chinese nationals, issues lifetime entry bans in anti-scam crackdown

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Chinese nationals were arrested in May in connection with an alleged online gaming and investment fraud syndicate operating from Batam

The Chinese nationals were arrested in May in connection with an alleged online gaming and investment fraud syndicate operating from Batam