FOURTEEN people who have allegedly crossed the Solomon Island (SI) and Papua New Guinea (PNG) border illegally will appear before the Gizo Magistrate Court in Western Province this week.
According to the court schedule, they will face court on Thursday 28th April.
Since the arrest of the 25 people from Shortlands at Kangou beach in Bougainville few months ago, 14 of them have been detained and kept at the Gizo and Noro Police Stations.
However, they were placed on bail few weeks ago and only report to the Gizo Police Station every day.
Western Province Provincial Police Commander (PPC) Mathias Lenialu also confirmed the Thursday 28th April court day for the border crossers.
Mr Lenialu said at the moment, they are living with their relatives in Gizo.
Western Provincial Disaster Committee (PDC) last week issued a strong warning to people living at the Western border to obey current restrictions imposed on the Solomon Islands (SI) and Papua New Guinea (PNG) border.
In a recent statement, PDC chairman (acting) Patrick Toiraena said people can face consequences and can be arrested by police and face charges for such offence.
“The only solution to avoid unnecessary arrests at the border is to listen to the advices from the PDC and the other responsible authorities,” he said.
Amongst the 25 people that were arrested at the Western Border, one is a female including five children.
According to the Camp Management in the various designated zones, all the children’s welfare were met and provided with the assistance from the PDC and the National Disaster Council (NDC).
