People go to E. Timor without passports

People go to E. Timor without passports

ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: Three years since East Nusa Tenggara province saw a new country appear on its doorstep in the form of East Timor, people on both sides have yet to get used to carrying passports when they cross the border, an Indonesian immigration official complained on Tuesday.

Local people and even government officials from both countries frequently cross the border without carrying passports, said Iwan Siwy, who heads the immigration office in the provincial capital Atambua.

"The rule is that anybody who crosses over the border must produce a travel document as the two countries are sovereign states," Iwan said.

His complaint was primarily directed against officials, whom he accused of setting a bad example for the locals.

"It may seem trivial if, for example, a group of officials enters East Timor with the latter's knowledge or even at its invitation to attend a meeting, but immigration regulations cannot be taken lightly," Iwan asserted.

He said locals would never see the point of possessing a passport if immigration regulations were not upheld.

"The regulations look stiff but slowly people will get used to them, and all levels of society will come to understand the purpose of travel documents when crossing national borders," he said. -- Antara