Posted 14 July 2006 @ 14:42
JAKARTA, 14 July 2006 - The Indonesian Military (TNI) has fully reopened the land border in East Nusa Tenggara province to allow Indonesians entering Timor Leste as security situation in the neighbor has returned to normal, an officer said Thursday. "We have fully reopened the land border. Indonesians are allowed to go to Timor Leste and so Timor Leste people can enter Indonesia as long as they have necessary legal document," Major Infantry Aziz Mahmudi, spokesman of border patrol, was quoted by the national Antara news agency as saying.
Indonesia closed its border in the province on May 26, as political unrest and violent protests broke out in Timor Leste after the sacking of 600 disgruntled soldiers. The Indonesian government initially reopened two gates of the border it shares with Timor Leste as a follow up of the meeting between President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and President Xanana Gusmao in Bali in June. President Yudhoyono after holding talks with Xanana on June 17 announced that the Indonesian government would reopen its border with Timor Leste on a selective basis.
The border at that time had been opened only for Indonesians returning from Timor Leste, and foreigners having visas from the Indonesian embassy in Dili. The border had been closed for Indonesians planning to go to Timor Leste, while Timor Leste's citizens were totally banned from entering Indonesia. The border posts were jointly set up by the TNI, Police, the Immigration office, Customs and Excise office and the regional government.
The Indonesian Military has 59 security posts in the border line shared with Timor Leste, but only 23 of them are built permanently, the other 10 are built semi-permanently and the 26 others are only emergency ones.
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