Border crossers may vote in PNG

JAYAPURA, Irian Jaya: Irianese border crossers living in Papua New Guinea can vote in the general election there in June, the Indonesian ambassador to Port Moresby said Tuesday.

Ambassador Abinowo Mukmin told Antara that the Papua New Guinean government would let the Irianese vote.

He said they had been given a chance to become citizens of Papua New Guinea or remain Indonesian citizens.

An estimated 3,000 Irianese border crossers live in Papua New Guinea.

"About 200 of them have changed their citizenship," he said, adding that one of them was a crocodile-hide trader in Merauke.