Indonesia’s Bali restricting access for Russians and Ukrainians. But why?

Authorities in the Indonesian resort island of Bali have called on the central immigration agency to cancel a visa-on-arrival policy for Russian and Ukrainian citizens.

This comes after tourists were found working illegally and a minimum of four Russian citizens were deported earlier this month for visa violations. Authorities have frequently reiterated their warnings against working on tourist visas in Bali.

According to official tourism data, Russians are counted among some of the biggest groups of foreign arrivals in Indonesia. Following a series of violations, Bali Governor I Wayan Koster said on Sunday he has asked the Ministry of Law and Human Rights to tighten visa requirements, especially for Russian and Ukrainian nationals.

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Without offering details on the nature of violations, he said the two countries were singled out because their citizens’ infractions were more “significant” than those of others.

In recent days, a number of Indonesians have also raised complaints on social media about some Russian tourists’ actions in Bali, including a man who allegedly hit a pedestrian while driving under the influence as well as a model who posed nude at a sacred tree.

The number of Russian and Ukrainian tourists who have caused problems “is not yet significant”, the country’s Tourism Minister Sandiago Uno mentioned on Monday, adding any plans to change visa requirements must be “carefully reviewed”.

As Covid-19 restrictions were eased, over 77,500 Russians arrived in Indonesia between September 2022 and January 2023, compared with roughly 88,000 in the same period just before the pandemic. Meanwhile, about 8,800 Ukrainians visited the Southeast Asian country between September 2022 and January 2023.