DILI, 16 january 2022 (TATOLI)- The migration service authority observe that illegal crossing on the borderlines continues to exist due to a lack of human resources in the border patrol unit (UPF).
General Director of Migration Service Authority, Luis Soares Barreto said Timor-Leste still lack the human resource to control illegal passing on borders.
“We admitted that Timor -Leste still lacks human resources or the Border patrol Unit to control the illegal movement in borders, in addition, we do not have a border wall on the Timor-Leste and Indonesia border, Therefore he said, the number of illegal passing continues to exist.’’ General Director of Migration Service Authority, Luis Soares Barreto told Tatoli in His office, Caicoli, this monday
Timor-Leste and Indonesia are separated by land, bushes, and rivers, but both countries also have similarities, some of their peoples speak the same dialect such as Bunak and Kemak, and also they do speak Tetun, the same color, therefore sometimes difficult to find out the illegal residents.
In accordance with this, Barreto said the Migration service authority has the responsibility to respond to illegal cases.
“We do not have the competence to control illegal passing to Timor-Leste territories. However, we are working integrated with other government institutions to provide service for the legal passing,’’ He said
According to Barreto, 13 patrolling posts have been set in Border areas, while every post consists of four or five member of police control units.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Nelia B.
