Jakarta. Ukrainian ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin disapproved of Bali’s plans to strip Ukrainians of their visa-on-arrival eligibility, even calling the provincial government to provide statistics to make their case. 

“I would love to ask His Excellency Mr. Governor to provide me, if possible, with the real statistics on the Ukrainians in Bali. How many of them were deported? How many were imprisoned? How many were accused of crimes?” Hamianin told reporters on Tuesday.

“Prove that Ukrainians commit any crime in the scale enough to be banned from visa on arrival,” Hamianin said.

According to Hamianin, there are around 5,000 Ukrainians living in Bali, whereas the Russian community is twelvefold at 60,000 people. Hamianin claimed that Indonesia has only deported eight Ukrainians since 2019.

"In Indonesian prisons, there are five Ukrainian convicts, but none of them committed serious crimes," Hamianin said.

The envoy finds it “offensive” that the governor is also grouping Ukraine and Russia together as the two countries that will get their visa-on-arrival facility terminated. 

“Do not mix Russians and Ukrainians. We are very different,” Hamianin said.

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Wayan recently announced that he had proposed to the Human Rights Ministry to remove the visa-on-arrival privilege for both Ukrainians and Russians. According to Wayan, many flocked to Bali due to the protracted war, and these tourists are found working illegally. Early this week, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno commented on the visa-on-arrival cancellation plan.

“There needs to be a study for the proposed cancellation. Judging by the visits in January alone, the number of tourists from Russia and Ukraine who misbehave is not as significant. This is something that needs to be discussed with the stakeholders,” Sandiaga told a press briefing on Monday. 

Bali has been mulling tightening its security on foreign tourists after a string of misbehaving travelers. Wayan over the weekend also revealed plans to forbid foreign travelers from renting motorbikes after they often break traffic laws.