Welcoming Christmas 2023, 2,000 People Are Predicted To Cross RI-Timor Leste Border Via Mota Ain NTT

The atmosphere of the bustle of border crossers at PLBN Mota Ain, Atambua Regency. BETWEEN ANTARA/Kornelis Kaha

NTT - Atambua Immigration Office in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) predicts as many as 1,500 people will pass through the Mota Ain Cross-Border Post (PLBN) during the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year holidays.

Head of the Atambua Immigration Office, Indra Maulana D, said that his party predicts around 2,000 people pass by every day at the end of this year's holiday.

"We predict that the number of crossings will increase ahead of Christmas and New Year," he said during a press conference at the NTT Ministry of Law and Human Rights Regional Office in Atambua, Belu Regency, Thursday, December 21, which was confiscated by Antara.

He said that the number of state boundary crossers was higher at PLBN Mota Ain when compared to the other two PLBNs, both Wini and PLBN Motamasin.

"As of last Wednesday, the number of border crossers at PLBN Mota Ain reached 1,100 people," he said.

Meanwhile, at PLBN Wini there are 150 border crossers, and PLBN Motamasin is 110 border crossers. It is estimated that the total border crossers at the three PLBNs on Wednesday, December 20, will reach 1,350 people per day.

He added that the increase in border crossers at PLBN Mota Ain did not only come from foreigners from Timor Leste, but also Indonesian citizens who wanted to visit Timor Leste.

This is because cultural relations and kinship between people on the island of Timor, especially Atambua, are still well established, so that almost every day before Christmas there are always foreigners or Indonesian citizens who pass because of family matters.

Not only that, many students from Timor Leste also received education at a number of universities in Kupang City, so that during the Christmas and New Year 2024 holidays they returned to Timor Leste to gather with their families.