London studies asylum for East Timor youths
London studies asylum for East Timor youths
JAKARTA (JP): The British government is studying the
possibility of asylum for five East Timorese youths who filed
their request at the British Embassy in Jakarta, an embassy
official said yesterday.
"Yes, it has been sent," Eric Jones, First Secretary at the
embassy, told The Jakarta Post by phone last night when asked if
the request for asylum had been sent to London. However he could
not predict how long it would take for London to respond.
In London, a spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that
Britain had received the application, Reuters reported.
The five East Timorese were identified by the news agency as
Joaquim Antonio Alim, 24, Antonia Batista Sequeira, 24, Egas
Soares, 25, Nelson Turquel, 22, and Timotio Jose Fernandes, 23.
Jones explained that the five were staying in the reception
area where they had access to water.
The five men entered the main embassy building at about midday
telling security guards that they were looking for information on
Britain. They then asked for asylum.
They said they had applied for asylum because they feared
repercussions from the authorities for their support of a
separate East Timor state.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday were in constant
touch with the British embassy over the matter, Antara reported
last night quoting Director of Foreign Information Irawan Abidin.
Irawan said the five men clearly did not qualify for political
asylum. "They're not political fugitives and they have not been
living under persecuted," he was quoted as saying.
One of the five men told international news agencies that he
had organized or taken part in a series of demonstrations and
that the others were members of clandestine network. Three of
them said they took part in the demonstration at the Santa Cruz
cemetery in November, 1991, when at least 50 people were killed
when protesters clashed with soldiers.
This is the third time since July 1993 that East Timorese
youths have gone to foreign embassies in Jakarta seeking asylum.
Seven men spent several weeks at Swedish and Finnish embassies in
July 1993 before gaining asylum in Portugal.
Last November, 29 youths won asylum in Portugal after
occupying the parking lot of the American embassy for several
days. (emb/mds)