The Indonesia-Papua New Guinea (PNG) border crossing has been closed following a shoot-out on Saturday between joint patrol officers from the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police and dozens of armed civilians in Skouw-Wutung, an area that borders the two countries, ahead of the legislative election on Wednesday.
“The border crossing has been temporarily closed. Aside from maintaining security ahead of the legislative election and on Election Day itself, the closure is also aimed at securing the area after a shoot-out between security officers and armed civilians,” Cendrawasih District Military Command (Kodam) chief Maj. Gen. Christian Zebua said during a visit to Skouw-Wutung on Sunday.
Damaged government property and other buildings that had been destroyed as a result of the incident were clearly visible in the area.
The entrance to the border crossing, which is usually crowded by locals, was very quiet on Sunday. Only a handful of armed security officers were seen guarding the border crossing .
Christian said the government would use the closure, which will run through April 12, to repair the damaged facilities.
“The glass in the observation tower, which was destroyed during the shoot-out, will be replaced with bulletproof glass, as the tower is a highly strategic vantage point for monitoring the border,” he said.
Following the closure, the passport-check post for people crossing the border into either Indonesia or PNG has been moved to the Hamadi fish-auction site, which can only be accessed by sea.
“After the armed clash, around 24 PNG citizens were refused entry to PNG via the Skouw-Wutung crossing and were redirected to the sea border crossing in Hamadi,” said the head of division IIA at the Jayapura Immigration Office, Gardu DP Tampubolon.
Meanwhile, Papua border head Suzanna Wanggai said the closure of the Indonesia-PNG border had been carried out with the agreement of the PNG government. (ebf)
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