Five Acehnese arrested in Kupang for fake papers

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Police in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, have detained five Acehnese people, allegedly members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), for having falsified identity cards and passports.

The Acehnese people, among the 27 Acehnese people whose presence was detected at the border between East Timor and Indonesia, were detained at the local police's detention cell in the city.

"They have been in the province for one month, we are investigating why they are here. The important thing is that they have falsified identity cards and passports.

"We have a suspicion that they have a special mission in the province. It is strange that they could get their identity cards and passports within a month. Even more unbelievable is that they left their hometown in Aceh to seek work in this least-developed province," Kupang Police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr. F.F. Jeremias Mirah told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

Jeremias said the police would focus their investigation on the detainees' purpose for being in East Nusa Tenggara.

"We are coordinating with the police in their hometown to check whether they are true job seekers or members of GAM," he said.

He added the five were arrested on Thursday after police received reports from local people alerting them of their presence in the city.

The five were identified as Ah, Bh alias Jn, L, Af and Bs, all from Beringin Village, Bureauleuk Subdistrict, Central Aceh Regency.

Three others identified as Br, Am and Gn were believed to have escaped police arrest.

"We are chasing the three," said Jeremias.

He said further the eight were among 27 Acehnese people whose presence in Atambua was detected by the military in Belu Regency last week.

The Acehnese detainees said they arrived in Kupang from Atambua in mid May with the main purpose of seeking work in the city.

"We are not criminals. We came here to seek work," Bh said in his cell at the police precinct.

He said he and his colleagues returned from the border areas to Kupang after they were refused entry into East Timor because they were using fake passports.

"We are here on our way home to Aceh. We need to stay here for some months to make money because we have no more money for the trip home," he said.

Asked why they changed their name on their identity cards, Bh said they did not want the security authorities to know their true identity because Acehnese were often branded as being associated with GAM.

Meanwhile, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Piet A. Tallo said it was quite strange that Acehnese people would came to a poor province to seek work.

"The reason is baseless because the province is poor and has no industries where they could work. It is very strange that they left their rich hometown in Aceh which has many industries where they could seek work," he said, adding that he believed that the Acehnese people came to the province with certain political motives.

Col. Moesanip Moeswarno, chief of the Kupang Military District, said he suspected that the Acehnese people were members, or supporters of GAM and they were trying to enter East Timor to learn how the new country fought for separation from Indonesia.