East Timor after referendum

East Timor after referendum

From Media Indonesia

Soon after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that the
recent polling in East Timor was won by the proindependent group,
the situation in that region got heated and tense, and thousands
of East Timorese fled the territory. The number of refugees both
from prointegration and proindependent segments keep increasing
day by day. The situation has become worse as many groups and
individuals expressed their dissatisfaction over the way the UN
Mission in East Timor (UNAMET) handled the referendum. It was
alleged that UNAMET had taken the side of the proindependent
group, and this resulted in sporadic physical clashes which
claimed the lives of innocent people.

Observing this phenomenon, I have good reason to say that
there is an indication of foreign elements who were lingering in
East Timor to exert pressure on the people. Many of the refugees
are believed to have preferred to profess Indonesian citizenship
rather than having forced independence.

If the refugees keep increasing and murders go on unchecked it
is not impossible that once East Timor is transferred to the
National Resistance Council for an Independent East Timor (CNRT)
and thus became an independent and sovereign country, no East
Timorese will be left there -- a country void of people. Then
what does freedom mean for the East Timorese people?

JIWANDONO

Bekasi, West Java