Indonesia unable to help all Timorese refugees: Erna

Indonesia unable to help all Timorese refugees: Erna

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian government is unlikely to
resettle all 52,750 East Timorese families who have chosen to
remain in the country, a minister revealed on Sunday.

Minister of Resettlement and Infrastructure Erna Witoelar said
the result of the refugees' registration process on June 6 was
beyond the government's expectations.

"We are indeed unable (to accommodate the refugees). The
government never expected to shoulder such a heavy burden," Erna
said.

Of 53,824 East Timorese families registered earlier this
month, 98 percent of them decided to stay in the country and
retain their Indonesian nationality. The families comprise a
total of around 224,000 people.

Erna said the government had expected only 24,000 East
Timorese families at the most join the registration, in which
they decided whether to remain in Indonesia or be repatriated.
The minister added she had estimated only half of that number
would opt to retain their citizenship.

"With 4,000 families already resettled, we would only have had
to find permanent housing for 6,000 families and provide
temporary accommodation for 2,000 families," Erna said, referring
to previous expectations.

Previously, East Nusa Tenggara governor Piet Tallo had said
that the province would be able to accept only 6,000 families.

There were reports that the number of East Timorese living in
refugee camps in the East Nusa Tenggara half of Timor island
increased prior to the registration, which had been delayed many
times since originally being scheduled to take place early this
year.

An estimated 250,000 East Timorese streamed into West Timor to
flee violence following a United Nations-sanctioned plebiscite in
Aug. 1999, which resulted in an overwhelming vote against
Jakarta's wide-ranging autonomy offer.

The former Indonesian province had a population of 800,000
before the United Nations-sanctioned polls.

Erna said the government is seeking the international
community's help, particularly from regular donor countries of
East Timor, to help Indonesia cope with resettlement of the
refugees.

She suspected that there had been little effort from observing
countries in persuading the refugees to return to their home
soil.

"In fact, East Timor is looking for more people to become
civil servants. Therefore we, UNTAET (United Nations Transitional
Administration in East Timor), donor countries and observing
countries should encourage repatriation of more East Timorese
refugees," Erna said.

Meanwhile, the repatriation of East Timor refugees has been
resumed after a temporary suspension in connection with the
registration of refugees.

"Early last week, a total of 35 refugees, or around 14
families, were repatriated to East Timor while 125 refugees or
around 31 families have registered for repatriation to East
Timor," head of the Task Force for Refugee Problems Basyiruddin
Yusuf told Antara in Denpasar on Saturday.

Following conclusion of the registration process, repatriation
will be increased from three to five times a week except Saturday
and Sunday.

It was agreed in a meeting between the task force, UNTAET, the
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International
Immigration Organization on June 13 that repatriation would be
intensified from Jun. 15 to Aug. 15.

So far 9,120 refugees, around 2,460 East Timorese families,
have been repatriated.