E. Timorese leave for Portugal
E. Timorese leave for Portugal
JAKARTA (JP): Eight young East Timorese left Jakarta on an Amsterdam-bound KLM flight last night to start a new life in Portugal after their request for asylum was granted through the Dutch embassy.
They had spent a day inside the Dutch embassy while The Hague negotiated for their passage out of the country.
Lisbon agreed to take them soon after they entered the embassy although The Hague was still considering their request.
Their departure was assisted by the local representative of the International Commission of the Red Cross.
"They will leave this evening with the full consent of the Portuguese authority and according to their wish," Iem G. Roos, the Dutch embassy's counselor for cultural and press affairs, told reporters in front of the embassy gate earlier.
Official sources identified the eight asylum seekers as Ivan Manuel Soares (20), Nixon Alvez da Cruz (23), Jose Louis (20), Antonio da Costa Rangel (21), Jose Fretas da Cruz (22), Alvaro Dedeos Martin (24), Jose De Leon (22) and Vazcodo da Concecau (25).
They forced their way into the Dutch embassy on Tuesday afternoon in defiance of embassy security officers.
Roos said the embassy gave the East Timorese food and shelter during their stay.
Asked whether the Dutch government had rejected their plea for political asylum, Roos said, "I am not saying that. I am saying that this is a solution."
"My government is still studying the request. The solution has been found in this arrangement," he said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs denies the East Timorese's claim of political persecution.
"They are not political fugitives and are not under persecution. If they wish to leave Indonesia, they are free to do so," the ministry's Director of Foreign Information, Ghaffar Fadyl, told Antara.
This is the fourth time in the last three years that young East Timorese have been granted asylum in Portugal by forcing their way into an embassy in Jakarta.
Five used the British embassy in September, 29 used the American embassy in November last year, and seven occupied the Swedish and Finnish embassies in July 1993. (01)