Refugees welcome back in E. Timor

I write in response to the article in your newspaper entitled More E. Timorese return to RI over fears of violence on April 30, 2001. Your report cites "data from the local administration of Belu district" to claim that 168,816 East Timorese have entered East Nusa Tenggara as refugees in the past two months because of fears for their security in East Timor.

We have no evidence of this happening and wonder what "data" is being referred to. Such a massive movement of people, which would have more than doubled the number of refugees in East Nusa Tenggara and emptied East Timor of nearly a quarter of its population, could not have gone unnoticed in East Timor itself.

We regret The Jakarta Post's assertion of the exodus without adequately checking the fact on the ground.

For its part, UNTAET continues to welcome back refugees from East Nusa Tenggara who wish to return to their homeland.

AMBASSADOR LAKHAN MEHROTRA

Director, UNTAET Office

Jakarta