Security the main problem for aid efforts: UNHCR
JAKARTA (JP): Despite protection from local and central governments, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Sadako Ogata said on Tuesday security was the main problem for the humanitarian mission in East Timor and East Nusa Tenggara.
"In the western half of Timor island, an estimated 200,000 people are taking refuge in the area and we still receive reports on arriving militias intimidating the people there," Ogata told a media conference which wrapped up her three-day visit to Indonesia.
She said she found East Timor was in total violence and the western half of Timor island was full of terrified people who were struggling to sustain their daily lives with limited supplies amid threats and intimidation.
However, she said, central and local governments were given assurances that they would fully open routes for humanitarian operations in the areas.
Ogata also dismissed media reports saying that starvation prevailed in refugee camps and many people died because of food shortages.
"I've seen worse than that in Sudan and Kosovo," she said, adding that people in the refugee camps were still cooking the food supplies provided by the local government.
She said the UNHCR would set up offices in Atambua and Kupang to control their humanitarian operations in the area simultaneously with similar operations in East Timor -- mainly to give assistance to people who were staying in the devastated territory.
An advanced team will depart to Dili and East Nusa Tenggara to start the assessment and set up base camps in the next two or three days, she said.
During her visit, Otaga met with President B.J. Habibie, Minister of Defense and Security/Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Gen. Wiranto, State Secretary/Minister of Justice Muladi and Coordinating Minister of People's Welfare and Poverty Eradication Haryono Suyono.
Otaga and her entourage also visited the refugee camps in Atambua, near the East Nusa Tenggara border with East Timor, and Kupang, the capital of East Nusa Tenggara.
The UN body has spent US$7 million on their humanitarian mission in Dili and neighboring areas shortly after the announcement of the Aug. 30 referendum, in which the majority of East Timorese rejected Indonesia's autonomy offer.
Ambeno
Tension has been rife in Ambeno, East Timor's enclave in East Nusa Tenggara, since early this month.
Thousands of people have fled the East Timor regency after a group of prointegration militiamen burned down their houses.
Oekusi, the capital town of Ambeno, was deserted as over 40,000 out of the town's population of 56,200 sought refuge in East Nusa Tenggara. Many are hiding in the hills, witnesses said.
"There have been no activities here in the past three days. All the houses were burned level to the ground," Maxi, a resident of Oekusi, said on Tuesday.
A militia member, Philippe Leoray, said the residents destroyed their own belongings rather than let proindependence militias seize them.
"They didn't want the property they built after years of hard work fall into the hands of proindependence groups," Philippe said.
Only buildings belonging to state-owned telecommunications company Telkom and state electricity company PLN were spared from fire.
Reports also said about 8,000 more refugees were seeking shelter in Camp Naen in Kefamenanu in East Nusa Tenggara, some 60 kilometers away from Oekusi.
Separately in Atambua, an Army soldier identified as Pvt. first class Augusta da Costa was shot in the back during a quarrel in Betun village on Monday night.
The cause of the incident was not yet determined.
Augusta was rushed to Kefamenanu hospital for surgery to remove the bullet, which was conducted by a team of doctors from the Association of Medical Doctors of Asia (AMDA).
During the surgery, a group of 10 proautonomy militias threatened the doctors and demanded the soldier's safety.
"We are doctors. Do not threaten us like that," Nuralim Mallapasi, the AMDA chief, told the militiamen.
Nuralim said tension was running high in refugee camps. "But so far we can handle it. We're a bit nervous but after all, this is our job," he added. The soldier was reportedly in stable condition as of Tuesday.
Chief of Udayana Military Command overseeing Bali and Nusa Tenggara, Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri, speculated that tension might have resulted from some military and police troops who sought an outlet for psychological pressure they endured while in service in East Timor.
Antara reported some of the Elite Police Mobile Brigade, who were seen in a shooting orgy in Atambua, said they fired shots in the air to complain about a lack of attention from their superiors. (27/edt/emf)