Ex-Army members to farm in E. Timor<\/p>\n
By Yemris Fointuna<\/p>\n
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Of their own free will,
\nhundreds of thousands of East Timorese who have been living in
\nrefugee camps in Indonesia's West Timor for the past two years,
\nhave now decided to return to their homeland following the
\nsuccessful general election in East Timor, held in a free,
\norderly and safe manner on Aug. 30, 2001.<\/p>\n
Along with these East Timorese refugees, some 600 members of
\nthe Indonesian Military (TNI), once notorious for its involvement
\nin cruel, scorched-earth policies in East Timor pursued after the
\nself-determination referendum in 1999, have decided to leave
\nmilitary service and return to their homeland and work together
\nwith their former political foes in building a peaceful,
\ndemocratic and harmonious East Timor.<\/p>\n
Udayana Military chief Maj. Gen. Willem T. da Costa said that
\nsome 200 of these former soldiers of East Timorese origin have
\nreturned to East Timor and that the remaining 400 will do
\nlikewise after the administrative process of their early
\nretirement and honorable discharge from the military service is
\ncompleted.<\/p>\n
When interviewed by The Jakarta Post at Naibonat refugee camp
\nin Kupang regency on Sept. 19, some of the military personnel of
\nEast Timorese origin who have filed an application for early
\nretirement said that they had decided to return to their homeland
\nof their own free will. They also denied allegations emerging
\nfrom some quarters in Kupang that they had betrayed their
\nmotherland by giving up their TNI positions to return to East
\nTimor, now known as Timor Lorosa'e, which the East Timorese
\nexplain as meaning 'Timor, the land where the sun rises'.<\/p>\n
One soldier, Alfonso da Silva, 43, a chief private hailing
\nfrom Viqueque, said that he had just filed an application for
\nearly retirement from his unit, Infantry Battalion 744, and that
\nhe and his family would have returned to East Timor had it not
\nbeen for rumors that former TNI members would be killed upon
\ntheir return.<\/p>\n
\"We were ready to return home quite a while ago, but rumors
\nwere spread in our camp that if I went back to East Timor, I
\nwould be killed by the pro-independence group. Later Bishop
\nBasilio Nascimento of Baucau came to Kupang and told us there
\nwere no more killings and no more violence in East Timor. He also
\nsaid that all refugees whose hands were not bloody could return
\nhome. It's true that I'm a member of the TNI, but I have never
\nkilled anybody,\" he said, adding that his entire family had
\nagreed to return to their homeland.<\/p>\n
He expressed hope that the East Timorese people, who were once
\nembroiled in civil war, would stand ready for a peaceful
\nreconciliation. If this happens, he said, many more refugees will
\nbe willing to return to East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"My family and I must return to our homeland. We have a plot
\nof land there and I will be a good farmer,\" Alfonso said.<\/p>\n
Another member of Infantry Battalion 744, Francisco Ferandes
\nfrom Dili, agreed with Alfonso, and maintained that he had no
\nspecial reason to return to East Timor except that he and his
\nfamily longed to enjoy their freedom in peace and safety with
\ntheir siblings and relatives.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever happens, we must return home. East Timor is where we
\nwere all born. Perhaps, some people will nurture some envy or
\nhatred against us but we are all ready for this as we believe it
\nwill soon pass. I'll work as a farmer or just do anything to
\nsupport my family,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Another TNI member, Louis Sarmentho Amaral, 37, said that his
\ndecision to return to East Timor was prompted by a desire to
\nreunite with his family, the loved ones he had left behind when
\nthere was a massive exodus out of East Timor two years ago.<\/p>\n
\"I left East Timor then because I was a member of the TNI. My
\nwife and two children sought safety in a mountain area. Security
\nhas been restored in East Timor now and the East Timorese live in
\npeace, so I have decided to return home and be reunited with my
\nfamily. East Timor is everything for us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Some East Timorese and a number of prominent East Timorese
\nfigures, such as Dili bishop Mgr. Carlos Filipe Ximenes Bello,
\nEast Timorese independence figure Xanana Gusmao and Foreign
\nMinister Ramos Horta, have said on different occasions that the
\nEast Timorese had never harbored any envy or revenge against the
\nrefugees, including former pro-integration militiamen and former
\nmembers of the TNI.<\/p>\n
Instead, they have continually called on their fellow
\ncountrymen still in refugee camps to return home and work hand in
\nhand to build the Timor Lorosa'e state and eliminate poverty.<\/p>\n
\"Allow me to call on the East Timorese still in West Timor to
\npack up and return home along with their children,\" Bishop Belo
\nsaid at the Dili Lecidere diocese palace, East Dili, recently.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ex-army-members-to-farm-in-e-timor-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}