Asylum seekers quietly leave Australian embassy

Asylum seekers quietly leave Australian embassy

JAKARTA (JP): Four East Timorese lodged at the Australian
Embassy for the past month quietly left the mission yesterday
after failing to gain political asylum.

"They have left at their own request to return to the
Indonesian community," embassy spokeswoman Joanne Eyre said
yesterday.

She would not reveal where the four young men had gone but
said they were taken to a destination of their choice in a
vehicle accompanied by embassy officials.

The four were part of a group of nine who scaled the embassy
fence on Feb. 7 and demanded political asylum in Australia.

Their request was rejected and were instead offered asylum in
Portugal. The nine turned down the offer and commenced a hunger
strike to punctuate their demands.

After two days, three of them fell ill and were taken to
hospital for treatment, accompanied by two of their friends.

The remaining four stayed behind at the embassy with the
apparent hope that the Australian election on March 2 might
result in a decision in their favor.

Despite recognizing the integration of East Timor as
Indonesia's 27th province, Canberra remains one of Jakarta's
strongest critics on alleged human rights abuses there.

Several dozen Timorese have scaled embassy walls here in the
past six months and left for Portugal after their initial
requests for asylum were rejected by other countries. (mds)