Repatriation of East Timorese continuing: UNHCR spokesman

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The repatriation of East Timorese refugees from Indonesia's western part of Timor island continued even throughout the presidential election in East Timor on Sunday, a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Jake Morland of the UNHCR office in Dili denied a report in The Jakarta Post which said that the repatriation program had been halted until May 20 due to a lack of vehicles.

The UNHCR has been working with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on both sides of the border to repatriate East Timorese refugees in Indonesia, now numbering about 55,000.

"The UNHCR and the IOM are at the border now, waiting for refugees to cross into East Timor," Morland said by phone from Dili. "We have food and non-food assistance waiting."

He rejected the suggestion that the vehicles used by UNHCR and IOM had been seconded to other UN agencies for the purpose of Sunday's UN-organized presidential election in East Timor.

"For the UNHCR and IOM, we'd like to confirm that it's business as usual. The borders are open, our trucks and buses are running and we're ready to receive all refugees who want to return to East Timor," Morland said.

The Post, quoting Col. Moesanip, chief of the East Nusa Tenggara Military Command, said the repatriation program had been halted until May 20, when the United Nations would formally transfer power to the newly elected government in East Timor.

"We strongly refute the report," Morland said.

However, the head of the IOM office in Kupang, Johanis B. Suparanto, told the Post on Tuesday the repatriation program was suspended for three days starting on Friday for security reasons on the eve of the presidential election in East Timor.

"This morning (Tuesday), I talked with the Belu district military chief, Lt. Col. Didi Sudiana. He said the border area was closed for three days because of the presidential election. So, the repatriation was temporarily halted. But since Monday, the repatriation has resumed," he said.

The refugees are among the more than 200,000 East Timorese who fled the territory in the wake of the violence that erupted after the self-determination vote in August 1999. Pro-Indonesia militias went on a rampage immediately after learning that an overwhelming majority of East Timorese had voted for independence.

Since then, the United Nations has been at pains in repatriating the refugees, a slow process because of perceived uncertainties awaiting them in their homeland as well as alleged intimidation by militias in the refugee camps.

The repatriation was accelerated after Indonesia set a January deadline for the refugees to return to East Timor or be resettled elsewhere in Indonesia.

Suparanto said at least 8,625 refugees had returned to East Timor between January and April this year. He added that March saw the largest exodus during this period, with about 4,000 people traveling home to East Timor.

He said the IOM had so far covered the transportation costs for returning refugees. "The Indonesian Military helps provide vehicles to carry them home, but the IOM pays the costs."