Authorities hunting down East Timorese intruders
Authorities hunting down East Timorese intruders
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Security personnel in Belu regency, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT),
said on Sunday that they were chasing after East Timorese
nationals who had allegedly entered the province after the bloody
riot in Dili, East Timor, last Thursday.
"Our intelligence service is continuing to hunt East Timorese
who reportedly sneaked into Belu and blended in with refugees
here," Belu military chief Lt. Col. Tjuk Agus Minahasa said on
Sunday.
Belu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Nugroho said that his
intelligence officers were working hard to detect the whereabouts
of the intruders.
"We received information that several East Timorese entered
illegally and merged in with the refugees. We have yet to find
them and the refugees are giving us no help," Agus was quoted by
Antara as saying.
Agus said that the East Timorese refugees in Belu were not
extending any help to the authorities, making it difficult for
the police and military (TNI) to arrest them.
Neither Tjuk nor Agus would give an estimate as to how many
East Timorese nationals entered Indonesia or when, saying only
that they slipped into Belu after the riot in Dili on Thursday.
Dili, the capital city of newly-independent East Timor, was
rocked by a riot and looting on Thursday after police there shot
dead a student protester.
East Timor foreign minister Ramos Horta blamed the riot, the
first since Indonesia left the territory in 1999, on former pro-
Indonesia militia members.
Tjuk Agus said that his office and local police had formed a
joint team to monitor and hunt down any East Timorese nationals
who had intruded into Belu regency.
"It is hard to detect the intruders if the refugees do not
help the security forces," Tjuk Agus said.
He added that it was possible for those involved in the Dili
riot to intrude into NTT due to the absence of checkpoints in
border areas as well as the difficult topographic situation.
According to Tjuk Agus, the border between Indonesia and East
Timor was prone to intrusion.
He cited as an example the illegal entry of East Timorese
prisoners who broke out of the Becora Jail in Dili on Aug. 16.
Some of the East Timorese prisoners were later detected living
in refugee camps in Belu and were unwilling to return to East
Timor, Tjuk Agus said.
He did not explain why his men or the police had not
apprehended these East Timorese, who had clearly violated the
country's immigration laws.
Earlier, NTT Police chief Brig. Gen. Jacky Uly ordered police
in Belu regency to step up security in areas bordering East Timor
to prevent intrusions by East Timorese following the Dili riot on
Dec. 4.
"I have instructed the Belu Police chief to tighten security
in border areas to prevent East Timorese from intruding into our
territory," Uly said on Friday.
He made the statement when asked to confirm reports that seven
intruders from East Timor were arrested early on Dec. 5.
"Belu police are now questioning them. I myself do not know
whether the intrusions are linked to the Dec. 4 riots," he said.
The intruders, who had got as far as Kupang, the provincial
capital, crossed the border near the town of Silawan, Tasifeto
Timur, Belu regency.
They came from Aidaba Teten village, Atabae subdistrict,
Bobonaro, in East Timor.