29 more East Timor refugees return home<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Twenty-nine more refugees, including one marine, have returned to
\ntheir hometowns in East Timor after spending more than two years
\nin refugee camps in South Sulawesi province.<\/p>\n
The 29 refugees, who were part of a total of 3,000 East
\nTimorese refugees staying in the province, embarked from
\nSoekarno-Hatta Port on a direct journey to the newly established
\nDemocratic Republic of East Timor onboard the Sirimau passenger
\nship on Monday night.<\/p>\n
\"I have considered all the consequences and I won't mind being
\na civilian in East Timor,\" Second Sgt. Armando GSS, who served in
\nthe Indonesian Navy for 13 years, said.<\/p>\n
The marine said he had decided to return to East Timor because
\nit was his home, but not because of the promises the government
\nof the new country made to refugees.<\/p>\n
Another refugee, Jos Amaral, said he missed his homeland and
\nhoped East Timor would provide a new life for him.<\/p>\n
\"We expect a better life (in East Timor) than the one we had
\nhere (in Makassar),\" he said.<\/p>\n
After the UN-sponsored referendum in August 1999, in which
\nmajority of the East Timorese voted for independence from
\nIndonesia, military-backed militias destroyed the half island and
\naround 250,000 East Timorese took refuge outside of the region.<\/p>\n
Some 3,000 of them left for South Sulawesi and stayed there
\nuntil the former Indonesian province was declared an independent
\nstate last month.<\/p>\n
However, the number of those returning to East Timor is
\nrelatively small, with only 62 refugees, including the latest 29,
\nchoosing to return there.<\/p>\n
East Timor President Xanana Gusmao visited Makassar last month
\nand asked the refugees to return home, promising that no harm
\nwould come to them.<\/p>\n
Separately in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang, some
\n2,300 houses will be built for East Timorese refugees who choose
\nto stay as Indonesian citizens, an official said over the
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
Visiting director general of housing at the Ministry of
\nResettlement and Regional Infrastructure, Aca Sugandhy, said on
\nSaturday that the construction of the houses would be partly
\nfunded by the Japanese government.<\/p>\n
\"Some 200 homes will be built in Kupang, 1,500 others in East
\nSumba regency and another 600 in Belu regency,\" Aca said, adding
\nthat the government would build more houses by August when there
\nwas a definite figure on the number of families opting to stay in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
Currently, some 54,000 East Timorese refugees are taking
\nshelter in Kupang and West Timor.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, militia leader Joao da Silva Tavares visited the
\nEast Timor border town of Batugade under tight security on
\nTuesday for more talks about the possible return of thousands of
\nhis followers, the Agence France-Presse reported.<\/p>\n
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) local
\nspokesman Jake Morland said the main topic of the meeting was
\nTavares' proposal that all returnees come back as one group and
\nlive together in a transit camp for a period to avert any
\nreprisals.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/29-more-east-timor-refugees-return-home-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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