Jakarta. Immigration and Corrections Minister Agus Andrianto has dismissed 71 immigration officers at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (SHIA) for extorting Chinese nationals, following a diplomatic complaint from the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia.

Between February 2024 and January 2025, there were 44 reported cases involving 60 Chinese nationals, with 39 immigration officers allegedly participating in the extortion. These officers were responsible for checking travel documents.

“All extorted funds, totaling Rp 32.75 million ($2 million), have been returned to the victims," Agus said on Wednesday. "The 71 deactivated employees include three structural officials, one former head of office, one former head of division, one current head of division, five heads of inspection sections, 23 supervisors, and 40 counter officers."

The head of SHIA's immigration office has also been replaced. The dismissed employees are under investigation by the Directorate General of Internal Compliance to determine appropriate sanctions.

To prevent similar incidents, the Immigration Department has enhanced the use of autogates at the airport, increasing the number of autogates to 98 and reducing manual counter officers from 50 to 15 at both arrival and departure terminals.

The Chinese Embassy had previously sent an official letter to Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry on January 21, highlighting the extortion cases.

"This is just a small part of many extortion cases. Many more Chinese nationals have not filed complaints due to tight schedules or fear of retaliation when entering their destination countries," the Chinese Embassy stated in the letter.