Marco 2012 - Posto de Fronteira de Batugade 1

Batugade is a suco (village) located in Balibó Subdistrict,

Bobonaro Municipality Bobonaro ( pt, Município Bobonaro, , or ) is a municipality (and was formerly a district) in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste commonly known as East Timor. It is the second-most western municipality on the east half of the island. It ...

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-west ...

. The administrative seat of the suco is the village of Batugade. Batugade is located on the main road between Dili and

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

, the capital of

Nusa Tenggara Timur East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the ...

Province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

in the western part of Timor island. A major immigration post for the border crossing into

, called the Batugade Integrated Border Post, is located in the suco about 3km from the village of Batugade.

Border Crossing

The Batugade Integrated Border Post is located near the East Timor-Indonesia border, about 3km from the village of Batugade. This is the main border crossing into Indonesia with complete customs, immigration and quarantine facilities. The border crossing checkpoint on the Indonesian side is called

Mota'ain Mota'ain, also spelled Motain, Mota'in or Mota Ain, is a hamlet in the Silawan village ('' desa''), East Tasifeto district (''kecamatan''), Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. A major border crossing checkpoint with customs, immigration ...

. The new CIQ complex was opened on 4 February 2012 by then East Timor Prime Minister

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...

. The border crossing facilities includes a dock for boats to ensure maritime control and curb illegal trade between Indonesia and East Timor. The complex replaced the old checkpoint which consisted of several small buildings which were set up to handle border crossing procedures when East Timor separated from Indonesia. The Batugade Customs at this checkpoint collects the second highest amount of revenue after Customs at Dili Port.

Shooting Incident of 1999

On 10 October 1999,

International Force East Timor The International Force East Timor (INTERFET) was a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, organised and led by Australia in accordance with United Nations resolutions to address the humanitarian and security crisis that took ...

(INTERFET) troops - a platoon from 2 RAR - patrolling along the main road between Batugade and Mota'ain were shot at as they were approaching the border bridge at Mota'ain while still within East Timor territory. Reports stated that the shots were fired by either

pro-Indonesian militia During the East Timor independence referendum in 1999, pro-Indonesia militias refers to paramilitary militias in East Timor that were loyal to the Indonesian government. They operated during the final years of the Indonesian occupation of East T ...

or the Indonesian police. The INTERFET troops returned fire and in the ensuing clash, one Indonesian was killed. Reports stated that in a meeting between the Indonesian army and INTERFET following the incident established that the INTERFET troops were still about 100 metres inside East Timor territory when they were fired upon.

Gallery

File:Marco 2012 - Posto de Fronteira de Batugade 2.jpg, Another view of the new immigration post building, looking towards the border. File:Indo-timor border mark.jpg, Plaque on one of the pair of border markers on each side of the river marking the East Timor-Indonesia boundary at Mota'ain/Batugade. File:Timor-indo border.jpg, The old immigration checkpoint housed in a wooden building. File:Batugade-Customs-2009.JPG, The old customs office housed in a temporary cabin.

External links

* Timor-Leste Immigration Departmen

*Video clip on YouTube of the Mota'ain Shooting Incident on 10 October 199

References

{{Reflist Populated places in East Timor Bobonaro Municipality East Timor–Indonesia border crossings