Over 25,000 E. Timor refugees register for repatriation

Over 25,000 E. Timor refugees register for repatriation

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

Since the presidential election in East Timor on April 14,
2002, 25,453 refugees or 7,600 East Timorese refugee families in
West Timor have registered for repatriation and are expected to
return home by the end of the month.

Stanis Tefa, chief of social affairs at the secretariat of the
provincial administration, said more and more refugees have
registered for the planned repatriation with local authorities in
Belu and Kupang, which is expected to peak on May 20, when UNAMET
transfers full authority to the East Timor government under
president-elect Alessandro Xanana Gusmao.

"Between 30 and 50 refugee families are registering with the
repatriation committee every day. The remaining refugees, who
remain indecisive about the situation in East Timor, will follow
suit after learning the good news from other refugees who have
already arrived home," he said.

The local administration has offered Rp 750,000 for each
family that decides to return to East Timor.

Tefa said there were still around 100,000 refugees in the
province. "If this group of 25,453 refugees return home, most of
the other 74,500 are expected to follow suit."

He said most refugees have expressed a willingness to witness
East Timor's independence and the planned swearing-in of Xanana
as their maiden president.

"The difficult situation and uncertainty in their own camps
will also help encourage them to return home," he said.

Separately, Johanis J. Kosapilawan, spokesman for the
provincial administration, said that, according to data he gained
from the refugee task force, the number of refugees who have yet
to register themselves for repatriation was only 55,000 and a
majority of them were in Atambua and none of them have decided to
stay in Indonesia.

"We will continue to enhance cooperation with UNTAET, UNHCR
and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to
persuade the refugees to register themselves for the repatriation
program so that the refugee problem will no longer burden the
Indonesian government," he said.

He added that those who refused to return home and wanted to
stay in Indonesia would be asked to join a resettlement program
that would relocate them outside the province.

So far, 104 East Timorese families have been resettled in
Lampung.