E. Timor refugees demand compensation

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Hundreds of displaced persons from East Timor taking refuge in East Nusa Tenggara province demanded on Monday that the central government compensate them with Rp 263 billion (US$26.3 million) for the assets they left behind in East Timor following the 1999 autonomy plebiscite.

The displaced persons of East Nusa Tenggara origin raised their demands in a protest outside the provincial council building on Monday ahead of the ending of their status as displaced persons as of Dec. 31 of this year.

In their statements, read by Imanuel Ndun, the coordinator handling displaced persons' assets in East Timor, now known as Timor Leste, the protesters called on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono not to forget his campaign promises, including not to abandon displaced persons from Timor Leste or their possessions.

"At that time (of the election), he said that if he was elected the President, he would pay attention to our assets like houses, land, vehicles and important documents, but he hasn't," he said.

Some 14,000 families of East Nusa Tenggara origin are now living in the province as displaced persons.

According to Imanuel, the total amount of assets left behind during the period of communal violence that followed the UN- sponsored plebiscite in September 1999 was more than Rp 1.62 trillion. This estimate, he added, was made on the basis that all the assets had been destroyed by fire, plus what remained after the plebiscite.

Head of East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration's social services office, Frans Salem, said the administration has worked to meet the demands of the displaced persons but was hampered by foreign diplomacy problems.

"Governor Piet A. Tallo has conveyed the compensation matter to the central government," he said, adding that all policies related to displaced persons fell under the authority of the central government, not the provincial administration.