Governor asked to help E. Timorese

JAKARTA (JP): Former East Timorese prointegration leader Eurico Gueterres met with Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday to request that the city administration help relocate East Timorese who have opted to remain in Indonesia.

According to Eurico, there are around 50 to 100 East Timorese families who want to reside in Jakarta and need help on administrative matters and citizenship.

"I and the other East Timorese opted to stay in Indonesia in the June 6 registration, so we asked Sutiyoso to help the East Timorese who want to stay in the city with further administrative arrangements," Eurico said as quoted by Antara after meeting Sutiyoso at City Hall.

He said that many East Timorese had lived in Jakarta for quite some time and had found employment in the civil service, the military/police and in the private sector.

"They are still using East Timorese identification cards, which will expire within five years, so they will be needing assistance in obtaining Indonesian citizenship," Eurico said.

Some 53,000 East Timorese families opted to stay in Indonesia in the official refugees registration near the border of East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and East Timor on June 6. Only around 1,500 East Timorese opted to return to East Timor.