More East Timor refugees prefer to stay in Indonesia

More East Timor refugees prefer to stay in Indonesia

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): The latest results from the
registration of East Timorese refugees indicated on Friday that
92,476 out of 94,692 eligible voters wanted to remain in
Indonesia.

The latest figures, made available at the registration
organizing committee's media center, indicated that 763 of the
refugees opted to abstain.

Officials at the media center said that the figures were not
the final result as the Belu and Kupang regencies had yet to
submit their final tallies.

"But the final result will most likely be the same," said one
official who requested anonymity.

The organizing committee had apparently been frustrated at
having to extend the registration period for a second time to
include Friday.

The first extension, until Thursday, was made on the grounds
that not all refugees had registered.

Registration Team secretary Usman Abubakar said that the
organizing committee had consulted 12 foreign observers before
deciding to extend the ballot.

"The number of refugees has swollen in each regency," Abubakar
said. "Reports from the regencies say the number of refugees is
224,154, while the organizing committee's records only indicate
148,807."

Changes in the number of refugees and eligible voters made the
committee struggle to provide more ballot papers.

The organizing committee had earlier kept 198,000 ballot
papers, and due to the unexpected increase in voters, 45,154
extra ballot papers were required.

According to Abubakar, the committee had to copy the ballot
papers and then ask the regents to sign and stamp them.

"The international observers and UNHCR (United Nations High
Commission for Refugees) have been notified about the additional
ballot papers," he said.

The refugees live in 13 regencies and in the mayoralty of
Kupang.

The registration, sponsored by the Indonesian government, is
intended to be a preliminary step toward the regulated monitoring
of the country's population and demographics.

All refugees, including former members of the Indonesian
Military (then ABRI) and Police force, were given the opportunity
to choose whether they wanted to stay in Indonesia or return to
East Timor.

Those who opt to remain in Indonesia will receive aid from the
government and be resettled in the future.

Unconfirmed reports said that the larger number of refugees
was a result of non-refugee residents in the regencies joining
the registration process to get obtain government aid.

Some have criticized the committee for extending the
registration. Critics said that the extension was due to the
committee's poor preparation.

However, the committee has boasted that the process was a
success because it had been conducted peacefully, in contrast to
many people's expectations of violence. (30/sur)