Most East Timor refugees wish to return<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): More than 58 percent of some 250,000 East Timor
\nrefugees sheltered in East Nusa Tenggara want to return to their
\nhomeland, the government and the United Nations' High Commission
\non Refugees (UNHCR) says.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare and Poverty
\nEradication Haryono Suyono said after a meeting with UNHCR senior
\nhumanitarian advisor Staffan Bedemar on Monday that the number
\nreversed the government's previous assessment.<\/p>\n
Haryono said the government had estimated that 90 percent of
\nthe refugees in Atambua and Kupang preferred to be resettled in
\nother parts of Indonesia, especially in the province of East Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>\n
\"The government will fully cooperate with international
\nagencies, including the UNHCR, the International Committee of the
\nRed Cross (ICRC) and the international community in sending back
\nthe refugees,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the government would make the return of refugees in
\nAtambua and Kupang a top priority, and after that they would
\nfocus on those in Ujung Pandang, Surabaya, Denpasar and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Last week an Air Force Hercules airplane transported 114 of
\nthose displaced from Kupang to Dili. \"On Friday at least 400 more
\npeople are expected to leave their refugee camps and return to
\nEast Timor,\" Haryono said.<\/p>\n
The UNHRC said on Monday it would begin the return of tens of
\nthousands of refugees to their homeland. It believes about 60
\npercent of the refugees want to return to East Timor.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura
\nannounced on Monday that Japan would provide US$100 million,
\nroughly half the total estimated cost, to support the
\nmultinational forces deployed in shattered East Timor.<\/p>\n
\"We believe the $100 million will be enough to allow
\ndeveloping nations to participate in the multinational forces,\"
\nKomura said, as quoted by Reuters.<\/p>\n
Under domestic law Japan is unable to send troops to
\nparticipate in peace-keeping operations in areas where there is
\nno cease-fire in effect.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Ujung Pandang, Minister of Health Farid Anfasa
\nMoeloek strongly denied on Monday reports that East Timor
\nrefugees in neighboring East Nusa Tenggara were running out of
\nmedicines.<\/p>\n
\"That's not true. When I inspected the spot with members of
\nthe House of Representatives (DPR) ... there were enough
\nmedicines. Even the (drugs) supply from the ministry is enough
\nfor six to seven months,\" Farid said after speaking at a
\nnutrition seminar at Hasanuddin University in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
When probed why doctors in the two main hospitals of Atambua
\nand Kefamenanu in East Nusa Tenggara complained about medicine
\nand aid shortages, Farid simply retorted, \"Probably because there
\nis no transportation to transfer the medicines.\"<\/p>\n
Farid said that the refugee's problems were not entirely the
\nresponsibility of his ministry.<\/p>\n
\"We all have to work together in handling this matter, from
\nproviding clean water, sanitation, food, resettlement and
\ntransmigration. The health ministry cannot do this alone,\" Farid
\nexplained.<\/p>\n
He also said that the fund for support had been transferred to
\nthe office of East Nusa Tenggara Health Ministry.<\/p>\n
\"I'll re-check the data,\" he said, without elaborating the on
\nthe exact figures.<\/p>\n
According to reports, the Timor Tengah Utara regency in the
\nprovince only receive about Rp 4 billion from the total Rp 6.5
\nbillion health fund allocated.<\/p>\n
Separately, the commander of the International Forces in East
\nTimor (Interfet) Maj. Gen. Peter Cosgrove said in Dili on Monday
\nthat he had asked the Indonesian Military (TNI) last week, to
\nreturn four of its soldiers to the territory to assist the probe
\ninto the killing of Dutch Journalist Sander Thoenes on Sept. 21,
\nin Dili.<\/p>\n
Cosgrove refused to identify the soldiers and the allegation
\nagainst 0them.<\/p>\n
\"They are wanted to assist in the line of inquiry,\" he said,
\nas quoted by AFP.<\/p>\n
The two-star general also disclosed that villages throughout
\nthe western district of East Timor have been systematically
\ndestroyed. He said he was concerned about the disappearance of
\ncivilian population.<\/p>\n
\"There has plainly been a concerted effort to burn and deny
\n(shelter) in that area,\" the news agency quoted him as saying.
\n(33\/27\/edt\/prb)<\/p>",
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