Russians began to be deported from Bali for ads in social networks

In places of “compact residence” of relocators from the Russian Federation, talk that they “take away work from the locals” has been going on for more than a month. And the most active are in Indonesian Bali and Thai Phuket, where there are the most guests from the Russian Federation. But now the authorities of these islands seem to have moved from words to deeds, starting to deport Russians to their homeland. What comes out of it, we learned first-hand.

In just 2 months of the coming year, seven citizens of the Russian Federation have already been deported from Bali alone – this is what the relocators themselves say. True, they add in secret that the deportees never made it to their homeland.

“Our tools are a laptop and Wi-Fi, you can work from anywhere,” says digital nomad Alexander, he was also “squeezed out” from Bali and now he works from Vietnam. – But the Balinese migration service did not have a goal to return its citizen to Russia, they just want to kick him out of themselves. They watch the reports of special officers studying social networks and chats. Sometimes a social media post or a chat message is misinterpreted. Their “watchers” translate by machine, and there any nonsense can come out.

Although I know a case when an offended girl deliberately “leaked” her boyfriend to the authorities. That he, they say, works illegally, being in the country on a tourist visa. She later regretted it, but it was too late.

– How did you leak it? Did she go to the police and file a complaint?

– Why, I just wrote to a Russian-language public, which is regularly viewed by special people, that such and such arranged transfers best of all, takes them to the airport and on excursions. The guy didn’t take anyone anywhere, at least for money, but he really rented a six-seater jeep. That was enough to send him out.

And here is the latest story, the defendant of which was not afraid to publish what happened to him. Sergey rented a 4-room villa in Bali with friends. And when one of the rooms was vacant, he advertised on social networks looking for a new neighbor. And soon he received a call to the office of the migration service, where he was shown screenshots of his ad and was accused of illegal real estate in Indonesia.

“I told them everything honestly,” Sergey shares. – But, it turned out that the problem is in the very fact of the announcement. It falls under the category of advertising, as I advertise my room in it. Advertising is a marketing service. And any marketing services, according to the law of Indonesia, are work. And I, of course, do not have a working kitas (a visa with the right to work. – Auth.).

To legally find a neighbor, it turns out, one had to either contact a real estate agency, or ask any Balinese to post an ad. At least stop a passerby on the street.

As a result, Sergei was ordered to “prepare for deportation and look for tickets to Russia.” And having learned that there were no direct flights to the Russian Federation, the immigration officers transparently hinted to the Russian that “they are not responsible for the actions of the passenger during the transfer.” Sergey understood them and bought Malaysian Airlines tickets to Kuala Lumpur for $1320. Emirates tickets would be cheaper, but such tickets would not suit the Balinese migration service, whose deportation records should contain “travel documents of airlines supporting this procedure.” And Emirates airlines, as it turned out, do not support this.

According to Sergey, he tried to fight for the right to stay on the paradise island: “I published a post about the impending deportation on the social network, some unknown people began to write to me with offers to help. The amounts ranged from $1,000 to $1,300.” The Russian did not dare to contact them, but he offered a bribe of a similar size in the “immigrant” itself, but the Balinese officers rejected it.

“Two hours before departure, I was met at the airport by two officers in civilian clothes, but with tokens and with my passport. Both stood side by side while I checked in for the flight. We were escorted to the boarding gate and only there they gave us our passport and tickets. And while we were sitting in front of the boarding gate, I spied one of them flipping through social networks on his phone and looking at rental ads. He studied both posts and comments. I think that’s how they find us. Be careful guys, don’t make my mistakes. At parting, they filmed me on the phone – for reporting, probably.

On departure, Sergei was stamped with a deportation stamp in his passport, at the same time he learned that he was already the 7th deported Russian since the beginning of 2023. From Kuala Lumpur, Sergei did not go home, but to Thailand – just to the place where another Russian-speaking guest was arrested the day before on charges of “working illegally as a taxi driver.” The 35-year-old traveler claims that he was just carrying his own friends in a rented van, and a Thai taxi driver denounced him.

– The eviction of Russians is welcome, – admits a Russian-speaking realtor from Pattaya. – Still, 40% of rental housing in the resorts is occupied by Russians, but there is no income from them, they save on everything. Mostly young guys and couples, not everyone has remote work, but they want to eat. Here they earn some money, whoever can.