East Timor is safe for refugees, say foreign diplomats
East Timor is safe for refugees, say foreign diplomats
JAKARTA (JP): Three foreign envoys who visited East Nusa
Tenggara on Tuesday assured the 230,000 East Timorese refugees
there the former Indonesian province was secure enough for them
to return to their homes.
Britain Ambassador to Indonesia Robin Christopher, United
States Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Gelbard and Australian
Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia Leslie Rowe, in their day-long
visit to refugees camps in Belu and Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara,
and East Timor, said refugees should return to their homes and
resume their lives.
They also noted that the rainy season had arrived in East
Timor. "We hope all refugees who earn their living from farming
return to their home villages to prepare their land during the
rainy season," Antara quoted Gelbard as saying during a meeting
with local government officials and military officers in Atambua.
Gelbard also asked the Belu regency administration to provide
financial assistance for refugees who wished to return to their
homes.
He said refugees had no reason not to return to East Timor
because the situation in the territory had returned to normal.
The foreign envoys also held a closed-door meeting with local
church leaders to discuss humanitarian aid for refugees and their
repatriation to their villages in East Timor.
Militias
Meanwhile from Dili, AFP reported that Gelbard delivered a
strong warning to prointegration militias to stop intimidating
refugees.
He said Washington and its allies would not tolerate any more
violence against East Timorese refugees in East Nusa Tenggara.
He said all East Timorese in the refugee camps must be free to
choose whether to return to their homes.
"I met with some prointegration leaders last night. I was
crystal clear that force and violence is something that cannot be
used," he said, adding the militias were openly operating in the
refugee camps he visited.
"I told them that the international community, starting with
the United States, would use everything we could against them if
they resorted to the use of force," he said, declining to
elaborate.
Gelbard said some elements of the Indonesian Military
continued to be involved with the militias.
Gelbard said he would raise this "very delicate subject" with
the Indonesian government, which he said should disarm the
militias.
Meanwhile, Robin Christopher had some words of praise for the
Indonesian government's efforts to provide humanitarian
assistance for the refugees, and expressed hope the refugees
could return to their villages safely.
"We thank the Indonesian government and the people in Atambua
for their solidarity with the refugees. We hope the refugees can
safely go back to their homeland," Antara quoted him as saying.
Leslie Rowe also extended his appreciation to the people of
East Nusa Tenggara for the hospitality they had shown to the
refugees, saying they had paid a high price to support the
refugees.
He said the Australian government supported the Indonesian
government's policy to allow the refugees to choose whether to
return to East Timor or settle in Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration
said a majority of the refugees had declined offers to return to
East Timor, opting instead to settle in Indonesia.
"Only a small number of the refugees have decided to go back
home. A larger number have chosen to live in Indonesia and they
have asked the Indonesian government to help provide them farming
tools," East Nusa Tenggara provincial administration secretary
Pieter Lettor said in Kupang.
His said despite offers from the provincial government, the
majority of refugees declined to return to their homes out of
fear of fresh violence in their villages. (rms)