Asylum seekers' request studied<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Five East Timorese asylum seekers holed up at
\nthe British Embassy in Jakarta since Monday may be going to
\nPortugal after Lisbon offered them a passage there.<\/p>\n
A British embassy official confirmed that an offer from Lisbon
\nhad been made to London, but he declined to say whether the five
\nEast Timorese were willing to go to Portugal instead of Britain.<\/p>\n
Reuters reported from London that the British Foreign Office
\nsaid Portugal has offered political asylum to the five youths.<\/p>\n
A spokesman said Britain had accepted the offer and was
\nnegotiating details with the Indonesian and Portuguese
\ngovernments. "The Portuguese have offered to take them and we've
\naccepted that kind offer," he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier on, it looked like the East Timorese were in for a
\nlong haul as officials at the British foreign and home offices
\nwere still deliberating their request yesterday.<\/p>\n
"If possible we hope for an answer today, but we don't really
\nexpect it will come quickly," the embassy's Second Secretary John
\nVirgoe told journalists outside the embassy yesterday morning.<\/p>\n
The five Timorese, all in their 20s, are T.J. Fernandes,
\nAntonio Baptista Sequiera, Nelson Turquel, Egas Soares and
\nJoaquim Alim. They entered the embassy on Jl. M.H. Thamrin on
\nMonday afternoon and asked for political asylum.<\/p>\n
They claimed to be members of various underground movements
\nfighting Indonesia's integration of East Timor.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony was adopted as the nation's 27th
\nprovince in 1976. Britain is one of the European nations which
\ndoes not recognize that integration.<\/p>\n
Several of the Timorese claimed they were involved in the
\ndemonstration which led to the 1991 Dili incident in which at
\nleast 50 protesters were killed in clashes with security forces.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian foreign ministry's director of information,
\nIrawan Abidin, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the
\ngovernment would not hinder the youths from leaving the country
\nor persecute them if they decided to stay in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
If the asylum requests are granted, the five youths are "free
\nto leave", Irawan said.<\/p>\n
If rejected, they are "free to return to where they came from
\nwithout any duress inflicted upon them".<\/p>\n
Irawan stated that the five Timorese were making false claims,
\npointing out that they were never under persecution in the first
\nplace and thus are not eligible for political refugee status.<\/p>\n
Two previous attempts by East Timorese youths to gain
\npolitical asylum by camping inside foreign embassies succeeded.
\nOn both counts, they were given asylum by Portugal, the former
\ncolonial master of East Timor.<\/p>\n
In July 1993, seven men spent a few weeks at the Swedish and
\nFinnish embassies before gaining asylum from Lisbon.<\/p>\n
Last November, 29 East Timorese occupied the grounds of the
\nUnited States Embassy for a whole week before they also left as
\npolitical refugees to Portugal.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Virgoe would not allow journalists to speak to the
\nfive Timorese, saying only that they were located on the first
\nfloor of the embassy.<\/p>\n
Irawan said the embassy has been in constant contact with his
\noffice concerning the matter. "We're just waiting to hear their
\ndecision," Irawan said. (mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asylum-seekers-request-studied-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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