Timorese refugees told to vacate camps

Timorese refugees told to vacate camps

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang

East Timorese refugees are to vacate camps across East Nusa
Tenggara by Aug. 31, the deadline set for them to leave the
shelter and receive government assistance to return to East Timor
or resettle in the province, the provincial administration said
on Monday.

Deputy Governor Johanis Pake Pani, speaking from the
provincial capital of Kupang, said all camps must be vacated by
Sept. 1.

"By that date, refugees choosing to stay in the province and
become Indonesian citizens will have to leave the camps and join
our resettlement programs," he said.

Pake Pani said the local administration had built 10,000 homes
in several resettlement areas in West Timor, Flores and Sumba.

However, he did not say what actions the government would take
against those who chose to stay on in the Indonesian province,
but refused to join the government-sponsored resettlement program
or return to East Timor.

"We don't have a decision yet for those cases," Pake Pani
said.

He said the Indonesian government would continue assisting
refugees in returning to their homeland until late this month.

After August, the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization of Migrants
(IOM) will take full charge of the repatriation program until
December.

The central government has made Aug. 31 the deadline for all
East Timorese refugees to leave camps and return home under the
government-sponsored repatriation program.

Each family choosing to return to East Timor before September
will receive Rp 750,000 in cash assistance from the Indonesian
government.

"In line with the central government's decision, the deadline
to facilitate the repatriation and provide funds guaranteeing the
lives of refugees will end on Aug. 31, 2002.

"The policy that handles refugees will shift them to economic
empowerment programs to be carried out in resettlement areas,"
Pake Pane said.

Some 250,000 East Timorese were forced to leave East Nusa
Tenggara after their homeland voted for independence in August
1999. Most refugees have returned home.

Pake Pani said between 30,000 and 40,000 refugees or 16,000
families of refugees continue to live in camps across East Nusa
Tenggara, including the regencies of Kupang, Belu and North
Central Timor.

Stanis Tefa, a senior social affairs official at the
provincial administration, said at least 54,000 refugees,
comprising 20,000 families, had returned home between September
last year and July of this year.

"Every day there are more refugees sent home, and another
major repatriation drive will be held in the middle of this month
before the Aug. 31 deadline," he said.

Meanwhile, councillors blasted the provincial administration's
management on Monday for dealing with refugees, including former
East Timorese civil servants and military officials.

Former civil servants from East Timor receive food assistance
from the local government as they live with other refugees in the
camps.

"Ex-civil servants from East Timor should not be categorized
as refugees because they have permanent salaries. They don't need
to get food assistance and other humanitarian aid from the
government," Servatius Lawang, a member of the NTT legislative
council, told Antara news agency.

Pake Pani denied that under his administration's policy, all
former East Timorese civil servants were listed as refugees and
entitled to receive government food assistance.

"That's the regulation, but I don't know how it is implemented
in the field," he said.