Bali’s big move against Russian and Ukrainian visitors amid crackdown on misbehaving tourists

Bali wants to make it harder for tourists from one country to get visas, and they are the largest group of foreign visitors besides Australians.

Russians have become the second biggest group of visitors to Bali behind Australians – and now the Indonesian island is planning to crack down on arrivals.

Bali officials and residents have expressed frustration with Russian tourists’ misbehaviour – like the influencer who posed naked with a sacred tree – and illegally taking up work.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster revealed this month he was asking the central government to stop Russian and Ukrainian tourists from being allowed to get a visa on arrival in the country.

Bali is also considering banning all foreign tourists from riding motorbikes and launching an official campaign to crack down on how tourists behave – including how they dress.

At a news conference in Denpasar, Mr Koster said Russians and Ukrainians were coming to Bali to escape the war, and were not just there for leisure but to find work. He claimed the two nationalities made up the highest number of violations among foreigners, according to local media.

The founder of a luxury show brand in Bali, Niluh Djelantik, said: “We opened our doors, we opened our arms, and we welcomed them with a big smile. But our kindness has been taken for granted.”

Bali is planning to crack down on visitors from Russia and Ukraine. Picture: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

In the days since, the same message has been spread across the world.

“There are many visa violations, like tourists who take jobs, economic crimes, overstays,” Mr Koster told the Wall Street Journal, speaking of Ukrainian and Russian visitors.

“Whenever we get reports about a foreigner behaving badly, it’s almost always Russian,” a local police officer in Kuta told CNN.

“Foreigners come to Bali but they behave like they are above the law. This has always been the case and it has to finally stop.”

According to those two publications, citing the Indonesian government, the most recent official data showed 22,500 Russians arrived in Bali in January this year – the second largest nationality – along with 2500 Ukrainians in the same month.

It was reported that in the month after Moscow ordered a partial mobilisation to get new troops to fight in Ukraine last year, the number of Russians entering Indonesia doubled to 12,000.

Bali Governor Wayan Koster claimed Russians and Ukrainians made up the highest number among foreigners of people with violations, such as traffic offences and visa issues. Picture: Agung Parameswara/Getty Images

Indonesia’s Visa on Arrival program allows foreigners to visit Indonesia for 30 days for tourism and is open to more than 80 countries. It costs about $50.

Overstaying the visa can lead to fines of $100 per day, or being detained, deported or banned from Indonesia for a specific period.

Russian’s ambassador to Indonesia Lyudmila Vorobieva told local media Russian tourists were encouraged to obey the law.

“Of course like any nation, there are some people who are not very law-abiding, and I don’t think that’s something we should focus on,” she told reporters at an Indonesia-Russia investment and tourism forum in Jakarta earlier this month, according to Indonesian news outlet Tempo.

Ukraine’s Honorary Consulate in Bali said Ukrainians do not want to violate the rules in Bali.

“Ukrainians do not come for holiday to Bali at this current moment as our country is being invaded. The Ukrainians coming to Bali now are for family unification [reasons] and are mostly female,” spokesperson Nyoman Astama said in a statement to CNN.