Broken-hearted Seroja veterans burn awards<\/p>\n
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara<\/p>\n
Around 200 veterans of the Indonesian Military's (TNI) annexation
\nof East Timor in 1975 staged an emotional rally at the provincial
\nlegislature here on Thursday to demand compensation for assets
\nthey left behind in the newly born state.<\/p>\n
To express their disappointment with the government ignoring
\ntheir claims, the veterans burned state documents showing their
\nstatus as Satya Lencana Karya Setia medal recipients. The medal
\nis commonly awarded to a distinguished soldier or civil servant
\nwho has served for between 10 and 15 years.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Indonesian soldiers were killed during the
\nmilitary operation, code named Seroja, that led to East Timor's
\nincorporation into Indonesia as its 27th province.<\/p>\n
The veterans were part of 250,000 people who fled East Timor
\nafter TNI-backed militias embarked on a murderous rampage in the
\nformer Portuguese colony in the aftermath of the UN-mandated vote
\nin favor of independence on Aug. 30, 1999.<\/p>\n
It was the second rally over compensation in three days.<\/p>\n
The protesters renewed their threats to boycott the 2004
\ngeneral election unless the central government paid the
\ncompensation, which reportedly reaches Rp 1 trillion (US$111
\nmillion) for more than 5,000 former refugee families.<\/p>\n
\"What are the documents for if the government never heeds our
\ndemand for compensation,\" one of the veterans, P. Kapitan, said
\nof the burning of the documents.<\/p>\n
Claimant coordinator I.M. Ndoen warned the government of the
\nloss of people's trust if it failed to comply with the demand.<\/p>\n
There are about 1,000 Seroja veterans who hail from East Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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