East Timorese refugees remain a headache
East Timorese refugees remain a headache
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang
Despite the cancellation of humanitarian assistance as of Jan.
1, 2002, the remaining 128,000 or so East Timorese people taking
refuge in West Timor has become a headache for the government
because they have not clearly chosen to stay in Indonesia or
return to East Timor, and therefore their status is unclear.
The refugees have insisted their rights to stay in the country
and but, so far, they have failed to make a clear choice of
leaving their camps and joining the resettlement program the
government has offered to them.
It remains unclear how the refugees will survive as basic food
is running out. Some have vowed to obtain meals by any means.
The refugees include 30,000 members of the Indonesian
military-backed militia who were blamed for a murderous and
destructive rampage in the territory after it voted for
independence in August 1999.
The rampage and the militia forced some 250,000 East Timorese
to flee to West Timor in the province of East Nusa Tenggara
(NTT). Approximately half have slowly returned to their home
land.
The halting of aid was aimed at returning the refugees to East
Timor -- expected to declare itself an independent state in May
-- or offering them Indonesian citizenship and resettling them
elsewhere as part of the government's resettlement program.
Some refugees near the border between West Timor and East
Timor said Jakarta's decision to halt assistance was inhuman.
"We appreciate the government's decision to stop food aid. But
as human beings we of course need to eat, drink and a place to
stay," Olivio da Costa Pareira, a retired military officer among
the refugees, said recently.
He said all the refugees did actually miss East Timor and
wanted to return home but not by force.
"I and maybe all the East Timorese people living outside their
land want to go home. But whether we will leave now or later is
our decision. We should not be coerced by anybody," he said.
"I will return home after East Timor officially becomes an
independent country," Olivio added.
Asked how his family would survive after the food assistance
was halted, he simply said: "A bird that never plants anything
even affords to live. So do we. By all means, we will struggle
for food and meet the family necessities."
Antonio, former member of the Red White Iron (BMP) militia,
said the government were "cowards" when asked to comment on the
halting of aid.
"Please note that we had struggled for Red and White (the
Indonesian flag). The government provided us with weapons to
fight pro-independence groups in East Timor. Now they and pro-
independence leaders are asking us to go home. It means the
Indonesian government is a coward."
Other refugees at the Noelbali and Tuapukan camps in Kupang,
meanwhile, are busy working on their vegetable plots surrounding
the accommodation centers.
"I grow corn, peanuts and cassava to anticipate the situation
when we may run short of food, so we can feed ourselves without
depending on others," Yuliana da Costa, a refugee in Noelbaki,
told the Post.
E. Salean, a senior official at the Kupang social affairs
office, said ending relief was a final decision.
"There will no bargaining in this case. The government will
stick to its earlier commitment to stop food assistance for more
than 100,000 refugees still living in West Timor," he said.
He denied that the repatriation or transmigration programs
were intended to force the refugees to leave the camps.
"The refugees are pleased to take one of the two choices. If
they want to be repatriated, the United Nations is ready to
facilitate that and if they prefer to join the resettlement or
transmigration program, some regions within Indonesia are
prepared to accept them."