Timorese asylum seekers leave for Portugal<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Waving \"V\" sings and thumbs up, the five East
\nTimorese asylum seekers, who have been holed up at the British
\nEmbassy since Monday, left for Portugal yesterday evening under
\nthe auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross
\n(ICRC).<\/p>\n
Using two ICRC sedans, the Timorese youths departed from the
\nembassy at 7:25 p.m. Two were seated in the first car and three
\nin the second as their cars drove to Soekarno-Hatta airport.<\/p>\n
Two embassy vehicles also joined the convoy. But a number of
\npolice cars that had also been outside the embassy did not take
\npart in the motorcade.<\/p>\n
The Timorese were to board a 9:45 p.m. Air France flight for
\nParis en route to Lisbon.<\/p>\n
The five -- Egas Soares, Joaquim Alim, T.J. Fernandes, Antonio
\nBaptista Sequiera and Nelson Turquel, all in their 20s -- entered
\nthe British Embassy at Jl. M.H. Thamrin on Monday and requested
\npolitical asylum. They claimed fear of persecution for their
\ninvolvement in clandestine activities in East Timor.<\/p>\n
However it was Lisbon, and not London, who announced their
\nwillingness to accept the Timorese.<\/p>\n
The former Portuguese colony of East Timor was integrated as
\npart of Indonesia in 1976. Britain is one of the European
\ncountries which does not recognize the integration.<\/p>\n
The youths also claimed that they participated in the 1991
\nDili protest, which resulted in the deaths of at least 50
\ndemonstrators at the hands of security forces.<\/p>\n
Indonesian officials have refuted the claims of the five
\nyouths saying they were never in a threatening situation. They
\nhave also stated that the five are not on any of the police's
\nwanted lists and were therefore free to leave.<\/p>\n
As they left the embassy compound the five Timorese seemed
\nquite cheerful and waved from the window of the car to the hordes
\nof waiting journalists.<\/p>\n
This is the third such incident in two years. In July 1993
\nseven Timorese were holed up at the Swedish and Finnish embassies
\nbefore getting asylum from Portugal. Last November, 29 Timorese
\nalso departed for Portugal as political refugees after occupying
\nthe United States Embassy grounds for one week.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in New York, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs
\nAli Alatas said that the asylum plea was just another ploy aimed
\nat embarrassing Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"The pattern is becoming quite clear. Anytime there's an
\ninternational event, our opponents abroad, particularly the
\nformer Fretilin members, maybe with some help from Portugal, try
\nto find an excuse to attract attention,\" he said as quoted by
\nAntara from New York.<\/p>\n
Alatas is currently in New York to attend the opening session
\nof the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n
\"Those five are loafers and are in no way being hunted,\" the
\nminister remarked.<\/p>\n
He contended that the statement carried by the youths
\ndescribing their clandestine activities is composed in near
\nperfect English and concluded that it may have been composed
\nabroad.<\/p>\n
\"Other signals indicate that it is a contrived game. We don't
\nhave to pay too much attention to it because it has no impact
\nwhatsoever,\" Alatas said.(mds)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/timorese-asylum-seekers-leave-for-portugal-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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