Refugee registration runs smoothly
KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara (JP): The registration of East Timorese refugees in West Timor ran smoothly on Wednesday with a tentative result of 9,226 out of 9,533 voters choosing to stay in Indonesia and only 277 choosing to leave.
Latest records, made available at the organizing committee's media center at 11 p.m. local time, indicated that three regencies, Kupang, Lembata and East Flores, and the mayoralty of Kupang had yet to submit their results, while eight other regencies had submitted their tentative results.
The registration process was scheduled to take place during the course of one day but was finally prolonged until Thursday as more people had yet to register themselves, pending the result from the three regencies and the Kupang mayoralty, Amin Rianom, the chairman of the registration's organizing committee, said.
The fact that the registration process progressed peacefully surprised many.
Thousands of eligible voters in Kupang had earlier threatened to boycott the registration but on Wednesday they peacefully amassed at the voting sites upon their own will. There are 48 registration sites in Kupang.
East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Brig. Gen. Yakobus Jacky Uli said, when touring the registration sites, that he was very happy with the security.
"We found no evidence of sabotage. Thanks must be given to the refugees, who were aware of the importance of the registration for the sake of their families' future," Yakobus said.
The refugees admitted that the registration was a decisive moment for them to choose whether to remain in Indonesia or to leave.
"The registration is very helpful for us to decide our own future," Emiliano Gomez, a refugee at Tuapukan camp, Kupang regency, told The Jakarta Post.
"The government of Indonesia cannot prevent anybody from choosing to stay in East Timor. And the government of Indonesia must take care with those intending to stay in Indonesia."
Leandro da Concencao Pirez, another refugee at Noelbaki camp said he preferred staying in Indonesia. "Our main problem will be receiving aid after registration. We used to receive Rp 1,500 and four ounces of rice per day. We demand that aid not be reduced after registration."
Despite the peaceful proceedings, many refugees said that they were skeptical about the fairness of the registration and "voting" process.
The registration sites in Tuapukan and Noelbaki were all poorly lit. Some of the booths used kerosene lamps and some others used candles.
Sole also said that committee members had been sloppy in carrying out their duties due to the absence of both local and international observers.
"As a refugee, I am doubtful about the registration process. How could the United Nation acknowledge all this," said Bas Sole, a refugee from the village of Oebelo.
According to Amin Rianom, there were only 41 observers, 12 of them from Korea, Portugal, Japan, Norway, the International Office of Migration (IOM), Thailand, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mozambique, the United Nations Transitional Administration for East Timor (UNTAET), China and Brunei Darussalam, for 507 registration sites.
The registration and voting was organized by Indonesia in a bid to help the refugees get a better life. Those who choose to stay in Indonesia will be resettled in the future.
"The registration is meant to be a preliminary step toward the orderly handling of population and demography," Rianom said, in the guidelines of a book on registration. (30/sur)