| Subject: AN: ET yet to issue border passes
E TIMOR YET TO ISSUE BORDER-CROSSING PASSES TO CITIZENS
ATAMBUA, April 17 (ANTARA-TNA) - The East Timorese government has yet
to issue border-crossing passes (PLBs) to those among its people wishing
to go to East Nusatenggara in Indonesia although it had already signed a
temporary land border agreement with Indonesia, a local source said.
The temporary land-border agreement was signed in Dili, capital of East
Timor, last April 9.
"Although the two governments have signed the agreement, the East
Timorese government has yet to issue border-crossing passes to East
Timorese citizens wishing to enter areas within East Nusa Tenggara.
Thereby the East Timorese authorities fail to accelerate the
reconciliation process among the East Timorese people," a former East
Timorese refugee leader, Pedro Sousa, said here on Saturday.
He said if the policy on border-crossing passes was implemented
consistently, meetings between people from both sides of the border could
take place frequently and thus accelerate the reconciliation process.
Thousands of East Timorese fled to the neighboring Indonesian province
of East Nusa Tenggara in the unrest that followed the United
Nations-sponsored people's ballot in August 1999 that showed most East
Timorese preferred independence over wide-ranging autonomy as an
Indonesian province.
Many of those East Timorese refugees are still living in the Indonesian
province.
Pedro believed there was another reasons behind the East Timorose
authorities' failure to issue border-crossing passes besides lack of funds
to print the passes.
It was possible the East Timorese government was afraid about the
possibility that if East Timorese people go to East Nusa Tenggara they
might not want to come back, he said.
Domi Jos Battu, another local public figure shared similar opinion
saying that the issuance of border-crossing passes would be able to settle
local problems and other customs issues as the people living in the border
areas were closely related to each other. (ANTARA-TNA)--E002
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