Indonesia stands firm on Timorese pensions

Indonesia stands firm on Timorese pensions

SURABAYA (JP): The Indonesian government is remaining
steadfast in its refusal to pay former civil servants of East
Timorese origin who have chosen to relinquish their citizenship.

The impasse remained unresolved at the end of the third round
of meetings between the government and the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) here on
Wednesday.

Jakarta's representative Sudjanan Parnohadiningrat said the
government had been asked to pay the pension of some 7,000 East
Timorese who once were civil servants before the Aug. 30
referendum and then opted to relinquish their Indonesian
citizenship.

Sudjanan, who is also director for international organizations
at the ministry of foreign affairs, explained that under the 1969
law on civil servants, only Indonesian citizens are entitled to
receive a pension.

The system is different than applied in other countries in
which the pension is considered part of the accumulative
percentage of wages which had been saved through the years.

Sudjanan said the two sides agreed to set up a technical
working group to further discuss the matter.

However, progress was achieved on the establishment of a joint
border committee to demarcate border lines and bridge differences
between East and West Timor.

Sudjanan added that Jakarta was also asked to give
scholarships for some 800 East Timorese students.

He said, however, that it had been decided Jakarta could only
offer scholarships to 162 East Timorese students.

During a visit to Jakarta in May, UNTAET chief Sergio de Mello
said that having East Timorese students back in Jakarta was "the
best investment that we can jointly make on the future relations
between the two countries".

He also said that to support healthy trade relations, the two
countries first needed to agree on many things, including
technicalities, customs and immigration. (Sirikit Syah)