E.Timorese refugees face starvation

E.Timorese refugees face starvation

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

The Indonesian government has practically halted humanitarian aid
for 143,803 East Timorese refugees now living in West Timor, East
Nusa Tenggara, since September, or three months earlier than its
official plan to cut all aid for refugees in December this year.

The refugees told The Jakarta Post at their camps in Kupang
and Noelbaki village on Thursday that they had no idea why the
aid had been abruptly stopped.

Up to September, each refugee had been provided with 400 grams
of rice and Rp 1,500 per day.

"We have received nothing since September. We are really in
trouble," Manuel Agustino Olieveira, a refugee said in Kupang.

A similar complaint was also voiced by Zuka Mudjiono Lay, the
refugee camp coordinator in Noelbaki.

He said as many as 8,214 people from 1,481 families had run
out of food since the aid had been stopped three months ago.

"They have had to find their own way to make ends meet; some
ask food from local residents," he said.

Meanwhile, the head of Ministry of Social Affairs provincial
office, Husein Pancratius, admitted that the government had been
late in distributing rice and money.

"Yes, we acknowledge that, but we want to give what is due to
them before December," Husein said, without explaining why the
aid had been stopped.

He said the government's 'debt' to the refugees totaled Rp 27
billion and some 6,000 tons of rice.