Refugees may be denied the vote

Refugees may be denied the vote

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: About 28,000 East Timorese
refugees living in camps in East Nusa Tenggara may not be allowed
to participate in the 2004 elections because of questions over
their citizenship.

"Many refugees have asked us whether they will be allowed to
vote in the upcoming elections. But we cannot answer that
question because the government and the UNHCR (United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees) have yet to clarify their
citizenship status," the secretary of the province's General
Elections Commission, Hans Louk, said on Saturday.

East Nusa Tenggara administration official Djidon de Haan said
that based on international law, the East Timorese refugees would
not be allowed to vote in the 2004 elections.

"They are protected under international law. That is why we
will not include them among Indonesian voters in 2004," he said.

The refugees, many of them members of pro-Jakarta militias
blamed for the 1999 carnage in East Timor, refused to return home
and instead opted to remain in Indonesia. --JP