Vice Minister of Interior appeal to timorese citizens in indonesia to enter the country legally
Vice-Minister of Interior, António Armindo, appealed today, September 16th, 2020, to all citizens entering the national territory by land, from Indonesia, to do it legally, through the border controls posts and to cooperate with health authorities and comply with mandatory quarantine.
The official entry posts in the country, for people and goods, according to the Customs and Migration Law, are the Mota’ain Batugade Border Post, the Salele Border Post and the Sakato Boarder Post, but in recent months it was reported that some people tried to enter the country illegally, despite the spread of the Coronavirus in Indonesia is very high, representing dangerous to the population.
Vice Minister, after the Council of Ministers meeting, held at the Government Palace, in Dili, asked “all citizens who are preparing to enter national territory, to do it legally, in compliance with the rules of the Ministry of Health, namely the quarantine period, in order to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 in Timor-Leste, given the wide spread of this disease in neighbouring Indonesia.
Vice Minister said that to prevent illegal entry, the PNTL Command has already increased the number of personnel and has established strong and rigorous measures to prevent illegal entry to the land border line.
We have increased the number of Maritime Police Unit (UPM) personnel, who carry out control at sea, and the Special Police Unit (UEP) is also supports the Border Patrol Unit (UPF), in order to, together with Timor-Leste’s Defence Forces (F-FDTL), with the Special Operations Command (COE), with the Municipalities of Bobonaro, Covalima and RAEOA’s PNTL Commands, with other local authorities and with communities living along the border line, to minimize the possibility of illegal entry and the danger of the spread of COVID-19 ”, added the Vice Minister.
António Armindo also asked for “everyone to have consciousness that illegal entry has a negative impact on national security, especially at this moment that we are facing an emergency situation, with the risk of COVID-19 spreading from the neighbouring country, which can spread the virus to our community”.
