E. Timorese refugees' repatriation

E. Timorese refugees' repatriation

ATAMBUA, East Nusa Tenggara: The visit next week by East
Timorese political leader Xanana Gusmao to the East Nusa Tenggara
provincial capital of Kupang is expected to speed up the
repatriation of East Timorese refugees, a local legislator says.

Blasius J. Manek, chairman of the provincial legislative
council, said that representatives of the thousands of refugees
in West Timor would meet Xanana to discuss their future on
Monday.

"They (Xanana and the refugees) will have the chance to have a
heart-to-heart talk. This, I am sure, will accelerate the
repatriation process," Blasius said.

Blasius has frequently met with refugee leaders in various
refugee camps scattered over several regencies and tried to
persuade them to take part in the meeting with Xanana.

The East Timorese fled, or were forced to flee, their homeland
in the wake of the violence that flared following the UN-
sanctioned 1999 referendum that gave the territory independence.

A refugee in Belu regency, Pedro Ximenes, said he hoped Xanana
would say what the East Timorese and Indonesian authorities
intended to do with the refugees after the UNHCR stopped its
relief aid. --Antara