29 more East Timor refugees return home

Yemris Fointuna and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Twenty-nine more refugees, including one marine, have returned to their hometowns in East Timor after spending more than two years in refugee camps in South Sulawesi province.

The 29 refugees, who were part of a total of 3,000 East Timorese refugees staying in the province, embarked from Soekarno-Hatta Port on a direct journey to the newly established Democratic Republic of East Timor onboard the Sirimau passenger ship on Monday night.

"I have considered all the consequences and I won't mind being a civilian in East Timor," Second Sgt. Armando GSS, who served in the Indonesian Navy for 13 years, said.

The marine said he had decided to return to East Timor because it was his home, but not because of the promises the government of the new country made to refugees.

Another refugee, Jos Amaral, said he missed his homeland and hoped East Timor would provide a new life for him.

"We expect a better life (in East Timor) than the one we had here (in Makassar)," he said.

After the UN-sponsored referendum in August 1999, in which majority of the East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia, military-backed militias destroyed the half island and around 250,000 East Timorese took refuge outside of the region.

Some 3,000 of them left for South Sulawesi and stayed there until the former Indonesian province was declared an independent state last month.

However, the number of those returning to East Timor is relatively small, with only 62 refugees, including the latest 29, choosing to return there.

East Timor President Xanana Gusmao visited Makassar last month and asked the refugees to return home, promising that no harm would come to them.

Separately in the East Nusa Tenggara capital of Kupang, some 2,300 houses will be built for East Timorese refugees who choose to stay as Indonesian citizens, an official said over the weekend.

Visiting director general of housing at the Ministry of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure, Aca Sugandhy, said on Saturday that the construction of the houses would be partly funded by the Japanese government.

"Some 200 homes will be built in Kupang, 1,500 others in East Sumba regency and another 600 in Belu regency," Aca said, adding that the government would build more houses by August when there was a definite figure on the number of families opting to stay in Indonesia.

Currently, some 54,000 East Timorese refugees are taking shelter in Kupang and West Timor.

Meanwhile, militia leader Joao da Silva Tavares visited the East Timor border town of Batugade under tight security on Tuesday for more talks about the possible return of thousands of his followers, the Agence France-Presse reported.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) local spokesman Jake Morland said the main topic of the meeting was Tavares' proposal that all returnees come back as one group and live together in a transit camp for a period to avert any reprisals.