Why Bali is in an uproar over a run club

• A Bali running club has become the latest flash point in a debate over foreigners on the popular holiday island.
• Entourage Bali came under fire after social media posts said it had rejected local applicants while accepting foreigners.
• Days later, Indonesia barred two Dutch nationals over their involvement with the running club.

It started with a rejected running club application.

Within days, a dispute over whether a Bali running club had discriminated against Indonesians drew the attention of immigration authorities and sparked a broader debate about the role of foreigners on the island.

On July 24, Indonesian immigration officials announced they had barred two Dutch nationals from re-entering the country over their involvement with Entourage Bali's silent disco running event. The move followed authorities' concerns about how the event was organized, including suspected immigration violations and discrimination against local residents.

Authorities said the two individuals, identified by the initials JAS and HQV, had left Indonesia on July 23.

Hendarsam Marantoko, Indonesia's top immigration official, said during a press conference in Jakarta that authorities took action because they believed the event was not in line with Indonesia's immigration rules, per state news agency Antara.

Under those rules, foreigners are not permitted to organize activities that fall outside the scope of their residence permits, he said.

"We consider this running club to be functioning as a 'state within a state'," Marantoko said.

He also said he instructed Bali immigration officials to investigate the event's organizers and take action against any foreign nationals found to have violated immigration regulations.

How it started

The investigation stemmed from several social media posts over the past week that said Entourage Bali had rejected Indonesian applicants while accepting foreigners. Some posts included screenshots that appeared to show messages exchanged with the running club.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Entourage Bali apologized to those who felt "offended and hurt," saying it had never intended to discriminate. The group said they made "errors in the automated approval process" on their WhatsApp groups, causing "some," but "not all" Indonesian phone numbers to be "incorrectly rejected."

The group also shared attendance data from its July 22 silent disco run, saying 22 of the 94 registrations — about 23% — were Indonesian, the largest national group represented. It also said it was pausing all activities and events "for now." Entourage Bali did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

In the days that followed, several other popular running clubs in Bali, including Rise Run Bali and Far Ubud Run Club, announced on social media that they would temporarily halt their own events.

The Entourage Bali issue also drew criticism from prominent Indonesians, including Bali senator Ni Luh Djelantik, who said in an Instagram post that she had raised the issue with Indonesia's immigration authorities.

"Bali is welcoming, but our hospitality should never be mistaken for a license to disrespect us," she wrote in her caption.

Djelantik added that one of the organizers had sent her an apology, but said it did not change her view that they should return to Indonesia and take responsibility for their actions.

A tougher stance on foreigners

The Entourage Bali case is the latest in a series of incidents involving foreigners that have fueled debate over their place on the popular holiday island, which welcomed nearly 7 million international visitors in 2025 — more than its population of around 4.5 million.

The government has stepped up immigration. Between January and June this year, Bali immigration authorities deported 342 foreign nationals. For comparison, Bali deported 378 foreign nationals in the first nine months of 2024 and 335 throughout 2023.

Earlier this year, Bali governor Wayan Koster also introduced new rules for foreign tourists and urged the public to report suspected violations through an official WhatsApp hotline.

The Entourage case comes shortly after several other high-profile incidents involving foreigners in Bali.

In April, Bali immigration officials deported an Italian man after a video of him getting into a physical altercation with a traffic police officer went viral. The following month, authorities announced they had detained 62 foreigners as part of a three-week operation targeting those suspected of violating immigration laws.

Taken together, the actions reflect Bali's increasingly assertive approach to enforcing immigration rules as the island grapples with record tourism and growing scrutiny of the role foreigners play in local life.