Police step up security on East Timor border

Police step up security on East Timor border

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): Police have stepped up
security patrols along East Nusa Tenggara's border with East
Timor in anticipation of problems resulting from the continuing
influx of refugees fleeing turmoil in the neighboring province.

East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Col. Jusuf Sudrajat said on
Thursday that police operating along the border confiscated at
least four cars belonging to the United Nations Mission in East
Timor (UNAMET). The drivers lacked the legal documents for the
vehicles.

Jusuf said he was concerned by the increasing number of armed
refugees because their presence could provoke conflicts and
violence.

"We have not decided to launch an operation to disarm them
yet. We are only making appeals. But I have asked the refugees to
surrender their arms," Jusuf told The Jakarta Post.

Chief of the Udayana Military Command overseeing Nusa Tenggara
and Bali Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri pledged earlier to get tough with
East Timorese proindependence militia members found in possession
of arms.

Jusuf said the number of refugees had reached 160,000 as of
Thursday, with predictions that people fleeing ravaged East Timor
would continue to flow into the western part of Timor Island.
Belu regency, which borders East Timor, has accommodated at least
83,000 refugees.

Separately, East Nusa Tenggara Governor Pieter Alexander Tallo
said the government must be cautious in handling the displaced
people, especially concerning the local population. He said
government treatment of the refugees could cause jealousy among
locals if they felt their own concerns were being ignored.

"The government must give equal attention to both refugees and
local people," he said.

Minister of Health Farid A. Moeloek promised to send a huge
shipment of medical supplies worth Rp 12 billion and a team of
doctors to the province in the next few days. He also appealed
for humanitarian aid from the international community.

The minister regretted the decision of Merpati Airlines which
charged Rp 900,000 on Thursday to transport medical supplies,
donated by the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA),
from Ngurah Rai Airport in Bali to El Tari Airport here.

"I will seek better coordination with related ministries,"
Farid said.

Maluku province, which is beset by its own problem of refugees
following prolonged sectarian strife, is facing a new problem
resulting from the East Timor crisis. Antara reported that at
least 6,000 refugees have flocked to Terselatan Island in
Southeast Maluku regency.

Local authorities are only able to provide 1.5 tons of rice
for the refugees, the official news agency reported on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 14,000 refugees from Manatuto regency, 66
kilometers east of Dili, were stranded on border of Belu regency
because the government was unable to provide transportation for
them.

East Timor Police chief Timbul Silaen said thousands of
refugees in Viqueque, Lautem and Ermera were awaiting for
transportation. He recommended the provision of sea
transportation because land transportation was no longer safe.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on
delivered on Thursday its first consignment of some 300 kilograms
of medical supplies and powdered milk to Dili on an Indonesian
Air Force plane, ICRC spokeswoman Sri Wahyu Endah said. A larger
cargo will arrive on Friday, she added.

The ICRC stockpiled enough food and emergency shelters to
support 50,000 people for two weeks, but witnesses said on
Thursday that the supplies were completely looted. (27/yac/prb)