Proindependence E. Timorese students hounded in Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
By Singgir Kartana and Tjahjono Ep<\/p>\n
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Proindependence East Timorese students living
\nin Yogyakarta are not happy. Since the announcement of the
\nresults of the Aug. 30 ballot in favor of the proindependence
\ngroup, they have been terrorized by prointegration people.
\nTragically, these students were forced to leave the East Timorese
\nstudents dormitory and have nowhere else to go for shelter.<\/p>\n
The eviction of a score of East Timorese students in the
\nAssociation of East Timorese University and Secondary School
\nStudents (Impettu) began with the arrival of Zito Pinto along
\nwith a number of his prointegration buddies on Monday, Sept. 6.
\nPinto gave an ultimatum to the occupants of the dormitory that
\nthey should move out within two days. The dorm occupants said
\nthey had earlier been terrorized a number of times over the
\ntelephone. One threat was that they would all be butchered.<\/p>\n
In Yogyakarta there are two groups of East Timorese students.
\nThe prointegration students are associated under the East Timor
\nStudents Movement (ETSM) and assemble at Deresan, Catur Tunggal,
\nDepok, Sleman. The proindependence group, on the other hand, has
\nImpettu, and were previously domiciled at the East Timorese
\nstudents dormitory. The supporters of these two groups are almost
\nthe same in number. Since President B.J. Habibie offered his two
\noptions to East Timor, tension has marked the relationship
\nbetween these two groups. Toward the implementation of the recent
\nballot, the proindependence group was often terrorized by
\nquarters claiming to be integrationists.<\/p>\n
\"On Aug. 17, for example, they terrorized us by spreading some
\n50 blood-covered chicken heads. In our custom this means that
\nwhoever has sent these chicken heads would like to see us dead.
\nThis terror is indelible in our memory,\" Demetrio Amaral de
\nGarvalho of the proindependence group told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The East Timorese students dormitory is located on East Timor
\nAlley off Jl. Kaliurang in Kentungan, Sleman. This building,
\nmeasuring some 400 square meters, was put up in 1978 by the home
\nministry. It has a dozen bedrooms, a library, a secretariat room,
\na meeting room and a guest room.<\/p>\n
The dorm was last occupied by some 20 students studying at
\nvarious universities in Yogyakarta. Some of them had stayed at
\nthe dormitory for 11 years, since their secondary school years,
\nbut most of them had stayed there for about 5 years.<\/p>\n
\"We get really mixed up with the local people around the
\ndormitory. Every time there was a special event in the village,
\nwe would be invited. Local Catholics also came to our mass here.
\nTherefore, some locals could not help shedding tears when they
\nsaw us leave the dorm. They must have taken pity on us,\" said
\nJoao Cardoso, with expression of agreement from his friends.<\/p>\n
These students decided to leave the dorm not simply because of
\nthe threats and terror they had been subjected too, but rather
\nfor three reasons. First, Pinto told them that the dormitory
\nwould be used to accommodate prointegration East Timorese
\nrefugees. (Until now no such refugees have been seen there.)
\nSecond, they did not want to bring the conflict between
\nprointegration and proindependence groups to Yogyakarta,
\nparticularly to the dormitory's neighborhood. Third, they wanted
\nto avoid clashes that could arise when the two groups fought to
\ngain control of the building, as this would disturb the peaceful
\nlives of the locals.<\/p>\n
After leaving their dormitory, these students have stayed at a
\ntemporary hideout in Yogyakarta. It is not easy to meet them. The
\nplace is kept secret and tightly guarded, because terror and
\nmurder threats follow them wherever they go. Those terrorizing
\nthem now also include paid hoodlums from outside Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
The latest terror they have been confronted with is the
\ndistribution of pamphlets allegedly by the prointegration group,
\ncalling on the broad community to fight the proindependence
\ngroup. These pamphlets have been distributed among students and
\nordinary people. Yet, Demetrio did not appear fazed by this
\nterror tactic.<\/p>\n
\"If we respond to this terror, we are indeed foolish. If the
\npamphlets become a polemic, they will look like a big issue and
\nthose distributing them will get big-headed. I believe the
\nYogyakarta community will not be influenced by words full of
\nanimosity that the pamphlets contain. The people in Yogyakarta
\nare hospitable and are opposed to violence. Very soon these
\npamphlets will simply be forgotten,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In their hide-out, these students also have a number of
\nproblems. Besides poor security, they also can no longer
\ncommunicate with their families in East Timor because
\ncommunications with East Timor have been completely paralyzed as
\nthe rioting degenerates into a murder and arson spree. For three
\nmonths now they have been unable to get financial support from
\ntheir parents, on whom they are fully dependent financially for
\ntheir daily necessities and education.<\/p>\n
\"I do not know how my parents and my siblings are or where
\nthey are now. Since April I haven't received any money from my
\nparents. I don't know how I will continue my studies. What has
\nsaddened me more is the death of Father Joao Felgueras SJ after
\ncruel torture by the prointegration militia. He was the chairman
\nof the Dili Jesuit Foundation and helped finance me and some
\nother friends studying here in Yogyakarta,\" said Yolanda, 24, a
\nstudent of Informatics Engineering School at the Sanata Dharma
\nUniversity of Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
These problems are faced not only by the 20 students referred
\nto above but also by some 200 other students staying at boarding
\nhouses in other places. Besides being scared by threats of
\nkidnapping and murder spread in pamphlets, they also have
\nfinancial troubles keeping body and soul together. Sooner or
\nlater they will need a place which can guarantee their security.
\nAt present some girls are already too afraid to go out.<\/p>\n
Anyway, the problems facing the students must be viewed as a
\nhumanitarian problem. Obviously they are in a dilemma. If they
\nremain in Yogyakarta they will continue to be terrorized and
\nsuffer financial difficulties, but they cannot return to East
\nTimor yet because of the turmoil raging there.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/proindependence-e-timorese-students-hounded-in-yogyakarta-1447893297",
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