Timorese women win safe passage to Portugal
Timorese women win safe passage to Portugal
JAKARTA (JP): Two East Timorese women left for Portugal last
night after spending two days in the Australian Embassy. A few
hours earlier, two separate groups of East Timorese attempted to
break into the Japanese and New Zealand embassies.
The two East Timorese women left for Lisbon yesterday evening
after sheltering in the Australian Embassy on Jl. HR Rasuna Said,
South Jakarta, since Wednesday.
Maria Sarmento, 23, and Odilia Victor, 25, had originally
asked for refuge in Australia but like earlier East Timorese
asylum seekers, they ended up going to Lisbon.
They left under the facilitation of the local office of the
International Committee of the Red Cross.
"The women's departure for Portugal follows precedents
established recently in relation to East Timorese who have sought
asylum at various embassies in Jakarta," Australian embassy
spokesman John Milne told The Jakarta Post.
He added that during discussions with embassy officials, the
two women indicated a willingness to go to Portugal.
"As has been the case in the past, Portugal expressed its
willingness to accept the two women if they wish to travel to
Portugal, and the Indonesian authorities agreed to their
departure," he said.
In the morning, seven East Timorese youths tried to scale the
fence of the Japanese Embassy on Jl. MH Thamrin.
Aware of the possible break-in, police fended the Timorese
from scaling the fence which had been fortified with barb wire
after a similar but more successful incident two months ago.
Police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Hariatna told the Post
yesterday that the seven were being detained for questioning at
the Central Jakarta Police precinct.
At about the same time, at the New Zealand embassy on Jl.
Diponegoro, Central Jakarta, five East Timorese youth entered the
embassy compound.
The Indonesian foreign ministry's acting spokesperson Koko
Wijanarko yesterday confirmed to the Post that the five had
taken refuge at the embassy and were asking for political asylum.
Nevertheless, Koko scoffed at their demands for asylum and
brushed the incident aside as another publicity stunt to attract
attention in conjunction with the coming trilateral talks.
Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas and his newly appointed
counterpart Jaime Gama are due to meet at the seventh United
Nations sponsored trilateral talks in London on Tuesday to find
an internationally acceptable solution to the East Timor issue.
The former Portuguese colony was integrated as Indonesia's
27th province in 1976. The UN, however, still recognizes Lisbon
as the administrating power there. (01/bsr/mds)