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)