Refugees destroy forests to survive
Refugees destroy forests to survive
Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Atambua
East Timorese refugees living in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara,
have destroyed some 700 hectares of protected forests in the
regency of Belu for agricultural purposes following a halt in aid
from the government.
Some refugees recently interviewed by The Jakarta Post said
that they had had to convert the forest into agricultural land so
as to anticipate a possible shortage of food by the end of this
year when the government would no longer provide them with
assistance.
"We will plant corn, tubers and other crops in the coming
rainy season. We just don't want to starve," Dominggus Ferreira
said.
The government had earlier asserted that as of December this
year there would be no more humanitarian aid for around 290,000
East Timorese who opted to stay in Indonesia and are now living
in West Timor, East Nusa Tenggara province.
Starting next year, the refugees will have to rely on their
own resources to survive.
East Nusa Tenggara provincial spokesman JB. Kosapilawan said
early this month that the refugees had received humanitarian aid
for two years and that they could be lacking the spirit to fend
for themselves as they had become too dependent on the
government.
The decision came as a blow to the refugees who accused the
government of trying to kill them gradually by stopping the aid.
They said they did not have anything that would allow then to
live independently.
The illegal deforestation has apparently drawn serious
attention from local councillors.
The deputy speaker of the legislative council for Belu
regency, Blasius Manek, said that the administration and the
police should take prompt action to stop the deforestation.
"If the deforestation continues, someday people will find it
difficult to get water, and flood will become a danger," Blasius
said.
The head of the forestry office in Belu, Valen Kelen, said in
Atambua last week that the forests destroyed by the refugees were
located in water catchment areas. "They were traditional forests,
which belong to the people. They are all protected forests."
According to official records, the refugees have just
destroyed, among other areas, 450 hectares of protected forest in
the village of Kateri, Malaka Barat district, 50 hectares of
forest in the village of Bipemnasi Swamohok, Kota Atambua
district, and another 12 hectares of forest in Selim Kovalima
district.
Belu regent Bria Yohanes said that a special team had been set
up to curb the illegal deforestation. "Legal steps are preferable
in handling this case."
Meanwhile Belu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Nender A. Yani
claimed to have arrested 14 refugees believed to have been the
masterminds behind the destruction of the forests.
"They encouraged the other refugees to cut the trees
in the protected forests. We will take legal action against
them," said Nender.
Soon after the East Timor referendum sponsored by the United
Nations in 1999, at least 500,000 East Timorese flooded into West
Timor. Most of them were poor and brought nothing with them.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
entered West Timor and started to provide humanitarian aid to the
refugees. The aid was halted last year following the passing of a
United Nations resolution stating that West Timor was an unsafe
area.
Resolution No. 1319, which also ordered the pullout of UNHCR
workers and a halt to humanitarian aid, was issued after the
killing of three UNHCR workers in September 1999.
Since then, the Indonesian government has provided the
refugees with humanitarian aid of Rp 1,500 and 400 grams of rice
per person per day.